
Class __EA2l1 

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GopyrightK?^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



I) ULAN Y'S 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



FROM 1632 TO 1891. 



PREPARED FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS IN THE STATE. 



A MARYLAXDER. 



WITH NXIMERO I N II L I r S TEA TIONS: 



THIKl) KDITION. 




BALTIMORE: 

Wm. J. C. DULANY COMPANY. 
1891. 



X 'V\ 



Fist 

<£if 



COPYRIGHT BT 

Wm. J. ('. DULANY COMPANY. 
is^l and 1891. 






TO 

ALLEN BOWIE DAVIS, ESQ., 

OK MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND, 

F O It A LONG LIFE OF PRACTICAL USEFULNESS, 

SUCCESSFULLY DEVOTED 

TO 

THE WELFARE OF HIS FELLOW-MAN, 

AND 

THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE MATERIAL INTERESTS 

OF BOTH 

HIS NATIVE COUNTY AND STATE, 

KSl'K'T M.l.Y IN THEIR 

AGRICULTURAL, ME0HAN1CAL, AND EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENTS, 
THIS ROOK 

llespcctfulli] .jjlcbitatcb, 

BY HIS FRIEND, 

THE AUTHOR. 



P RE FACE 



The study of history ought to begin at home, for it 
is well said that "charity begins at home," and it may 
be properly added that a knowledge of the history of our 
home is a charity bestowed upon us. / 

It is highly probable that the people of Maryland have 
a more extensive knowledge of the history of Greece, 
Rome, or England, and the characters of their leading 
men, than of the history of their own state and its hon- 
ored founders, who built for us, and consumed themselves 
on the altars of progress for our homes, our welfare, and 
glory. 

The history of Maryland is just as full of " philosophy 
teaching by example " as the history of any other state, 
and has hundreds of little episodes and anecdotes of thrill- 
ing interest, pleasing to youth and age, in the localities 
where they occurred. 

In this little work, the history of Maryland is not in- 
clined to the right nor to the left, but follows the record, 
administering justice to all — the aboriginal occupants of 
the soil, the European settlers, and the great masses of 
their children, dead and living. It is a documentary his- 



6* PREFACE. 

lory of Maryland. Words of wisdom have been gathered 
from preambles to her laws, old and new ; from her ancient 
and modern records, her Indian treaties, and her revolu- 
tionary constitution. Beginning with a biographical sketch 
of the founder of the province, notices of some leading 
events in almost every year from 1633 to 1881 follow, and 
nothing of interest to the general reader is omitted. 

It is hoped, therefore, that the people of Maryland will 
find in it some valuable information, well calculated to give 
force to patriotism, state pride, and the love of virtue. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 
1632. 



Sir George Calvert, Founder of Maryland.— Made One of the King's Secretaries 
of State in 1619.— Elected to Parliament in 1620.— Made Lord Baron of 
Baltimore, February 20, 1624, by King James I.— The Charter of Avalon. 
—The Charter of Crcscentia, or Maryland.— Territory described.— Lord 
Baltimore dies, April 15, 1632— Cecilius, Second Lord Baltimore.— Leon- 
ard Calvert, First Governor of Maryland . . • Page 13 



CHAPTER II. 
1633-1634. 



The Ark of Avalon and the Dove.— They sail from the Isle of Wight for 
Maryland.— Lord Baltimore's Colonists on Board.— Stormy Voyage.— The 
Landing in "Pedkammok" River.— Savages on Shore.— Canoes Big as 
Islands.— Indians described.— Augusta Carolina.— Lands granted to Set 



tlen 



18 



CHAPTER III. 
1634-1637. 

King Charles 1.— His Character.— Lord Baltimore and the Indians.— The First 
Legislature of Maryland.— Clayborne and the Isle of Kent.— Fort of St. 
Mary's.— Settlements along Patuxent and Potomac Rivers. . . 26 

CHAPTER IV. 

1637-1638. 

Troubles with Clayborne.— He petitions the King.— The Lord Archbishop of 
Canterbury. —Lord Baltimore's Charter and Clayborne's License in 
Conflict ,...••••• "" 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

1638-1640. 

Provincial Missionaries.— Indians embrace Christianity; — Troubles about Reli- 
gion and the Isle of Kent. — Governor Calvert sails for England. — Governor 
Brent. — Captain Richard Ingle. — Rebellion against Lord Baltimore.— In- 
gle's Raid on St. Mary's.— The Fort captured.— Provincial Records and 
the Great Seal carried off. — Great Seal described . . Page 36 

CHAPTER VI. 
1647-1649. 

Death of Governor Calvert. — Governor Greene. — Captain William Stone. — 
Proclamations of Pardon. — Captain Stone appointed Governor of Mary- 
land. — His Oath of Office. — Sixteen Laws proposed. — The New Great Seal. 
— The Legislature of 1649. — " Toleration Act " passed . . . 44 

CHAPTER VII. 

1649-1652. 

King Charles I. — His Trial and Execution. — The Puritan Revolution. — 
Troubles in Maryland. — Governor Greene's Proclamations. — King Charles 
II. — Oliver Cromwell. — Civil War in England. — Sir William Davenant. — 
Troubles in the Maryland Legislature . . . . .49 

CHAPTER VIII. 

1652-1658. 

The Indians in Maryland.— A Treaty of Peace. — Governor Stone and Captain 
Clayborne. — Cromwell's Commissioners in Maryland. — Governor Fen- 
dall .......... 57 

CHAPTER IX. 

1659-1684. 

The Legislature of 1659. — Fendall's Rebellion against Lord Baltimore. — Gov- 
ernor Calvert. — The Choptank Indians. — Death of Ceeilius, Lord Balti- 
more. — Charles, Lord Baltimore. — Council of Deputies . . 68 

CHAPTER X. 

1684-1696. 

Charles II. King of England. — The Duke of York. — Protestant Revolution. — 
William and Mary, King and Queen. — Convention of Protestants. — City 
of St. Mary's. — Royal Government in Maryland. — Governor Copley. — 
Death of Queen Mary. — St. Mary's County .... 7"> 



CONTENTS. 9 

CHAPTER XI. 

1696-1704. 

Provincial Schools.— Governor Nicholson.— Annapolis incorporated.— The 
State-house.—" Fountain of Healing Waters."— Rolling Roads.— The 
Indians.— Death of King William.—" Toleration and Ease."— State-house 
burnt Page 8 ' 2 

CHAPTER XII. 

1704-1716. 

Conspiracy against the Government of Maryland.— Counties Erected.— Joppa, 
in Baltimore County.— The Nanticoke Indians.— Tobacco a Currency.— 
Death of Charles, Lord Baltimore.— Governor Hart . . .92 

CHAPTER XIII. 

1717-1728. 

Settlements on the Potomac River.— Indian Names.— Governor Calvert.— 
Friends, or Quakers.— Towns in Maryland.— First Newspaper . 1<>5 

CHAPTER XIV. 

1728-1748. 

Baltimore Town erected.— Other Towns.— Boundary Disputes.— William Penn 
and Lord Baltimore.— Centennial of Maryland.— Lord Fairfax.— Lesser 
Seal of Maryland.— Towns erected.— Second Newspaper in Maryland.— 
Counties erected, etc. ...•••• I 13 

CHAPTER XV. 

1748-1763. 

Boundary Disputes.—" Old and New Style."— War Threatened.— Braddock's 
March through Maryland.— His Death and Burial.— Colonel Cresap and 
the Indians.— "Mound Builders" in Maryland . . -121 

CHAPTER XVI. 

1763-1775. 

Wars of 1763— Taxation in America.—" The Stamp Act."— Tax on Tea.— 
Death of Frederick, Lord Baltimore— The " Maryland Journal."— The 
Peggy Stewart destroyed . . • • • .132 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

1775-1777. 

The Kevolutionary War. — General Washington. — Maryland Troops. — The 
Maryland Line. — Battle of Long Island. — Charles Carroll of Carrollton. — 
The Great Seal of Maryland ..... Page 147 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

1777-1780. 

The Maryland Line. — British Troops in Maryland. — Colonel Smith. — Count 
Pulaski. — Arnold's Treason. — Baron DeKalb. . . . 160 

CHAPTER XIX. 

1781-1782. 

War in the South. — Maryland Line. — Colonel Howard. — Colonel Williams. 
— General Smallwood. — Thanks of Congress. — Washington College.— 
Schools. — Peace declared . . . . . .174 

CHAPTER XX. 

1783-1785. 

The Army disbanded. — Washington at Annapolis. — The Potomac Canal Com- 
pany. — George Town. — Ships and Shipping .... 185 

CHAPTER XXI. 

1785-1794. 

Governor Smallwood. — Baltimore enlarged. — Towns erected. — General Wil- 
liams. — Death of Thomas Stone. — Cumberland erected. — Turnpike Roads. 
— Governor Howard. — Washington City. — Braddock's Road. — Territory 
of Columbia . . . . . . . .198 

CHAPTER XXII. 

1795-1800. 

Insurrections. — Governor Stone. — Cokcsbury College. — Potomac Company.— 
Canals in Maryland.— Public Koads . . . ... 211 



CONTENTS. 11 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
1800-1812. 

Governor Mercer.— The Plague in Maryland.— Education.— Colleges.— Gov- 
ernor Wright.— Monument to Washington . . . Page 221 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

1812-1811. 

War of 1812.— The Chesapeake blockaded.— Defense of Baltimore.— Invasion 
of Washington.— Battle of Bladensburg .... 231 

CHAPTER XXV. 
1811-1817. 

General Ross.— Invasion of Baltimore.— Battle of North Point.— Bombardment 
of Fort McIIenry.—F. S. Key— Star-spangled Banner . . 241 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

1817-1828. 

Troubles in Western Maryland.— Washington's Monument.— The Battle Mon- 
ument. —Great Turnpike Roads.— Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.— Flood 
in 1817.— William Pinkney . . . • • .247 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

1826-1828. 

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.— The Fairfax Stone.— Travels in the Mount- 
ains. — Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ..... 255 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

is 1829-1810. 

Railroad to the Waters of the Ohio.— Adams and Jefferson.— Charles Carroll. 
—Two Hundredth Anniversary.— Logan and other Indian Chiefs.— Fort 
Cumberland.— The Meteoric Shower, etc. .... 261 



12 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

1840-1860. 

Constitution of Maryland. — Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad. — Harper's Ferry.— 
Governor Thomas ....... Page 271 

CHAPTER XXX. 

1861-1880. 

War of 1861. — Governor Swann. — Governor Bowie. — Constitution of 1887. — 
Public Schools. —Washington's Monument. — Public Buildings. — Parks. — 
The Great Seal.— Maryland in 1880 . . . . .279 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
L 882— 1890. 

Population. — Fires. — Presidential Elections. — Standard Time. — Electric 
Light. — Earthquake Year. — Annexation of the "Belt." — Arbor Day. — ■ 
Johnston Flood. — Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. — Acts of Assembly. — 
Commerce of Baltimore ...... 393 



THE 

HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



CHAPTER I. 
1632. 

Sir George < 'alvert, Founder of Maryland. — Made One of the King's Secretaries 
of State in 1619. — Elected to Parliament in 1620. — Made Lord Baron of 
Baltimore, February 20, 1624, by King James I. — The Charter of Avalon. 
— The Charter of Crescentia, or Maryland. — Territory described. — Lord 
Baltimore dies, April 15, 1632. — Ceeilius, Second Lord Baltimore. — Leon- 
ard Calvert, First Governor of Maryland. 

1. George Calvert was born at a place called Kipling, 
in Yorkshire, England, in the year 1580. He descended from 
an ancient and noble house of that surname in the earldom 
of Flanders ; his father's name was Leonard Calvert, and 
his mother's maiden name was Alicia Crossland. 

2. In 1593, he entered All Saints' College, Oxford, re- 
maining there four years. In 1597, he obtained the degree 
of Bachelor of Arts, and, in 1605, that of Master of Arts. 

3. Having finished his studies at college, he made a 
tour of Europe, as is still the custom of young Englishmen 
of fortune. He returned to England during the reign of 
James I., and, in 160G, was appointed keeper of the writs, 
bills, records, and rolls within an extensive province of Ire- 
land. 

4. A man of distinguished abilities, he was soon ele- 



l± THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

vated to other positions of responsibility over rising young 
men of influential families. He was at length made clerk 
of the king's privy council, as well as keeper of the king's 
signet with which bis private letters are sealed, as also 
grants and other things which afterward pass the great 
seal. 

5. In 1020, he was elected to Parliament, and subse- 
quently for a second term, where he maintained the rights 
of the king against the party who favored parliamentary 
power. Becoming a great favorite of King James, he ac- 
companied him on bis excursions, and, discharging all his 
duties faithfully, he was knighted in 1617, and became Sir 
George Calvert. 4- Sir is the title of a knight or baronet, 
which, for the sake of distinction, is always prefixed to his 
Christian name, either in speaking or writing to him. It 
is now in common use as a term of respect. 

0. In 1019, Sir George succeeded Sir Thomas Lake as 
one of the king's secretaries of state, still advancing in 
position and securing the confidence of his sovereign by his 
fldelity and correct knowledge of public business. He con- 
tinued in this office until the death of King James, which >- 
occurred on the 27th of March, 1025, according to the Ju- 
lian Calendar,* or Old Style. On the 20th of February, 
1024, Sir George was created Lord Baron of Baltimore, in 
the kingdom of Ireland, by King James I., and hereafter 
we shall know him as Lord Baltimore. In this year his 
lordship "freely confessed to the king that he was a Roman 
Catholic, so that he must be wanting in his trust, or violate 
his conscience, in discharging his office." He was, however, 
continued the king's privy councilor all his reign. 

7. While he was secretary of state he obtained a char- 
ter from King James, granting to him the province of Ava- 

* Prior to January, 1*752, the Julian Calendar was in use in England. 
By this calendar, the year ended on the '24th of March, and New Year's 
dav came on the 25th of the same mouth. 



THE CHARTER OF CRESCENTIA, OR MARYLAND. 15 

Ion, in Newfoundland, which was named after Avalon, in 
Somersetshire, England, so called from Avalonius, an an- 
cient monk. Uneasy at home, he resolved to retire to 
America, where he could enjoy the largest liberty of con- 
science. He purchased a ship, and, with his family on 
board, plowed the waves of the sea toward the cold island 
of Newfoundland. Finding that the climate there was not 
suited to the establishment of a prosperous colony, he 
abandoned the grant, and sailed to the coast of Virginia. 
He explored the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and, 
fixing his eyes upon the beautiful rivers, inlets, and wood- 
lands on either shore, returned to England and obtained 
from King Charles I. a grant of the territory of Crescentia. 

8. This territory is described as " all that part of a pen- 
insula in America, lying between the ocean on the east, and 
the bay of Chesapeake on the west, and divided from the 
other part by a right line drawn from Watkins' Point, in 
the aforesaid bay, on the west, to the main ocean on the 
east. Thence to that part of Delaware Bay, on the north, 
which lieth under the fortieth degree of north latitude from 
the equinoctial where New England is terminated. Thence 
in a right line by the degree aforesaid, to the true meridian 
of the first fountain of the river Potomac. Thence follow- 
ing the southwestern shore or bank of said river to its 
mouth, where it falls into the bay of Chesapeake. Thence 
on a right line across the bay to Watkins' Point, with all 
the isles and islets within those limits.'" 

0. On the 15th of April, 1632, before the patent con- 
finning the grant of the territory of Crescentia to Lord 
Baltimore could pass the great seal of the realm of Eng- 
land, that distinguished nobleman died, in the fifty-third 
year of his age, and was buried in St. Dunstan's Church, 
Fleet Street, London. 

10. Cecilius Calvert, eldest son of George, Lord Balti- 
more, deceased, was heir by the laws of England to his 



10 



THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



father's baronial honors and titles, as well as to the greater 
portion of his vast estates, and he became the second Lord 
Baron of Baltimore in the kingdom of Ireland. 

11. On the 20th of June, 1632, a charter for the terri- 
tory in America, which the first Lord Baltimore proposed 
to call by the name of Crescentia, passed the great seal in 
favor of his son, whom the king styled " our well-beloved 
and right trusty subject, Cecilius Calvert, Baron of Balti- 




CHAELE8 



more in our kingdom <>f Ireland, treading in the steps of his 
father." The name of the territory Mas changed from 
Crescentia to Maryland. This was done in honor of Queen 
Henrietta Maria, daughter of King Henry IV., of France, 
whom King Charles, grantor of the charter of Maryland, 
married in 1625. 

12. The charter reads that the territory granted is "in 
the parts of America not yet cultivated, though inhabited by 
a barbarous people," and it is provided that "the province 



LEONARD CALVERT, FIRST GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND ]y 

shall not be holden or reputed as a part of Virginia, or of 
any other colony, but immediately dependent on the crown 
of England." 

13. At this time, one hundred and forty years had gone 
by since Columbus discovered America ; De Soto had dis- 
covered the Mississippi River ; the Pilgrims had landed on 
Plymouth Rock ; the English had settled at Jamestown, 
and the Dutch at New Amsterdam : it. was left to Lord Bal- 
timore to explore and settle the wilds of Maryland, " the 
home of savage beasts and still more savage men." 

14. In 1633, Cecilius, Lord Baltimore, carried out the 
scheme of colonization contemplated by his honored father, 
the founder of Maryland. Invested with palatine* pow- 
ers, he matured plans to erect the vast region of country 
into a province, and issued his commissions in that direc- 
tion in the name and title of " Cecilius, Absolute Lord and 
Proprietary of the Provinces of Maryland and Avalon, 
Lord Baron of Baltimore." The powers* delegated to him 
in his charter gave him all the authority of a king in Mary- 
land. He drew up a constitution and form of a proprietary 
government for the province, so that it should not conflict 
with the terms of his charter or the laws of England, and 
appointed his brother, Leonard Calvert, lieutenant-general, 
chief governor, chancellor, commander, captain, magistrate, 
and keeper of the great seal. 

* Palatine,' or count palatine, a title anciently given to all persons who 
had any office or employment in the king's palace, but afterward conferred 
upon persons delegated by kings or princes to hold courts of justice in 
their provinces, and on such, among the lords, as had a palace, or a court 
of justice, in their own houses. 



CHAPTER II. 
1 633-1 634. 

The Ark of Avaloii and the Dove— They sail from the Isle of Wight for 
Maryland. — Lord Baltimore's Colonists on Board. — Stormy Voyage. — The 
Landing in "Pedhainmok" River. — Savages on Shore. — Canoes Big as 
Islands.— Indians described. — Augusta Carolina. — Lands granted to Set- 
tlers. 

1. On the 22d of November, 1633, the Ark of Ava- 
lon and the Dove, two ships of light tonnage, British regis- 
ter, sailed from the Isle of Wight in the English Chan- 
nel, with Lord Baltimore's colonists on board, destined for 
" Cinquack " or some harbor " near where the river Poto- 
mac disembogues into the bay of Chesapeake." 

2. The landing, however, was to be ryade within a ter- 
ritory, " in the parts of America," compassed by the Chesa- 
peake on the east, Virginia on the south, and on the north 
by that part of the bay of Delaware that lieth under the 
fortieth degree of north latitude, and on the west by "the 
first fountain of the Potomac River." 

3. A trackless waste of waters, three thousand miles in 
width, lay between the place of destination of those first 
colonists and their European homes, and an equally track- 
less wilderness of land lay before them. No steam palaces 
wafted these hardy pioneers across the wild and unknown 
waters, and no electric spark flashed intelligence of weal or 
woe to friends at home. 

4. The colonist exiles himself from home and friends, 
and all the comforts and amenities of social life. He buries 
himself in the wilderness, where, by hardy toil, he carves 



STORMY VOYAGE. 10 

out a- home, and prepares the way for less adventurous spir- 
its. He, in fact, immolates himself on the altar of prog- 
ress. 

5. Lord Baltimore's pious colonists committed their 
ships to the protection of God, and left behind them the 
homes in which they had been born, to face the dangers of 
the great Atlantic Ocean. Their voyage was stormy and 
perilous. A violent storm arose, and the company on board 
the Dove, dreading its effects upon that small vessel, noti- 
fied the officers of the Ark that, if they were in danger of 
shipwreck, they would hang out a light from their mast- 
head. The storm continued without abatement, and in the 
middle of the night the crew of the Ark beheld with dis- 
may two lights suspended from the masthead of the Dove, 
but they were unable to render their comrades any assist- 
ance. The ships parted in the storm and the two lights 
disappeared in dreary darkness, f When the light of day 
broke over that long night, the storm still raged, and no 
traces of the Dove were visible on the waters. The noble 
little vessel was given up as lost. On the night of the third 
day, a sudden blast split the mainsail of the Ark from top 
to bottom, and the vessel was at the mercy of the waves. 
The colonists betook themselves to prayer, and before the 
prayer was ended, the violence of the storm began to abate, 
and hope succeeded despair. ,— 

(i. The Ark, after touching at several islands, finally ar- 
rived safely at the island of Barbadoes, on the 5th of Janu- 
ary, 1633, being the tenth month in the year according to 
the Julian Calendar ; and great was the joy when the Dove 
bore in sight, after a separation of six weeks. On the night 
of the great storm, she changed her course and took refuge 
in the Scilly Islands which lie about ten leagues southwest 
from Land's End on the coast of England. From these 
islands she sailed for the Great Antilles, where she safely 
arrived, and, joining company with the Ark, they sailed 



f 



20 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

from Barbadoes on the 24th of January. They passed 
St. Lucia, Matalina, Montserrat, St. Christopher'Sj and other 
islands in the West Indies, coming- in sight of Old Point 
Comfort, in Virginia, on the 24th of February, next to the 
last month in the year 1683, according to the Julian Cal- 
endar, or the second month in the year 1634, according to 
the present English calendar. 

7. The Virginians were hostile to -the designs of Lord 
Baltimore, yet the governor of the colony gave Governor 
Calvert and his company a kind reception ; and after a 
sojourn of ten days they steered for the mouth of the Po- 
tomac River, which in the language of some of the tribes of 
the six nations of American Indians was called the river 
PedhammoTc. This ancient name of the river appears to 
be prophetic of the arrival of Lord Baltimore's colonists on 
its waters ; for Hecke welder says the Indians told him 
that the name Pedhammok signifies " they are coming by 
water."" 

8. Approaching the mouth of this river, the colonists 
saw for the first time the shores of Maryland. Wreaths of 
white smoke, curling in the distance, ascended above the 
tall pines of the forest, and betrayed the wigwam of the 
Indians. \ The mind contemplated the future, with its barns 
and dwellings bursting with plenty, and sumptuous ban- 
quets around richly laden tables in the western world. 
Mighty forests stretched out as far as the eye could reach ; 
the soil was rich and fertile, and the air sweet and balmy. 

9. Along the river, messengers flew from one wigwam 
to another, carrying the strange tidings that canoes as big 
as islands in the river had brought as many men as there 
were trees in the forest. Council fires were kindled through- 
out the country, around which savage warriors and grave 
sachems hastily assembled ; groups of armed and painted 
natives appeared on the shore, and the colonists were for 
the first time brought face to face with the native savages. 



THE LANDING IN " PEDHAMMOK " RIVER. 



21 



10. In defiance of hostile demonstrations on the shore, 
the colonists landed on St. Clement's Island in the Potomac 
River, and soon satisfied the natives that their intentions 







were peaceful. Their land- 
ing was made on the 25th 
of March, being New Year's 
day, 1634, according to the 
Julian, or Old Style, Calen- 
dar. They took solemn pos- 
session of the soil of Maryland, erected a cross as the sym- 
bol of Christianity, and performed divine service, for the 
first time, according to the ceremonies of the Roman Catho- 
lic Church, of which a great number of the colonists were 
members. 



22 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

11. Governor Calvert ascended the Potomac to the 
mouth of Pisoataway Creek, and there met the Piscataway 
Indians, the most powerful tribe, perhaps, within the limits 
of Maryland, who, together with the Patuxents, exercised 
sovereignty over all southern and central Maryland. 

12. On the Virginia side of the river, the governor and 
his party, sailing in the ship Dove, discovered an Indian 
village governed by a chief Archihu ; the king of the tribe 
being a small boy. Father Altham, a priest that came over 
with the colonists, being of Governor Calvert's party, 
preached to the Indians, and told them that the pale faces 
came not in the name of warriors, but to instruct them in 
Christianity, and the pursuits of peace and progress. The 
chief entertained his visitors courteously, and said, " My 
people shall hunt for my brothers, and all things shall be in 
common between us." 

13. Arriving at Piscataway, five hundred painted Indian 
warriors appeared on shore to oppose the landing of the 
governor and his party. They, however, soon made the 
savages understand that the pale faces did not intend to 
make war upon them ; and the chief, at length, was in- 
duced to come on board the Ark or pinnace. He granted 
the colonists permission to settle within his territories, and 
Governor Calvert and his party returned to St. Clement's 
Island. 

14. About this time the Potomac River was described 
as navigable to the distance of one hundred and forty 
miles, and fed, as other provincial rivers, by many tribu- 
taries from sweet springs which fall from the bordering 
hills. Many of the hills are planted, and yield no less plenty 
and variety of fruit than the river exceeds with abundance 
of fish. The river is inhabited on both sides. % 

15. The colonists brought with them an account of 
some of the Indians of Maryland, who were described as 
such great and well-proportioned men as are seldom seen ; 



INDIANS DESCRIBED. 23 

for they appear like giants to the English, yet seem of an 
honest and simple disposition. Their language appears to 
sound from them like a voiee from a vault. Their attire 
is the skins of bears and wolves ; sonic have garments made 
of bears' heads and skins ; the man's head goes through 
the neck of the skin, and the ears of the bear are fastened 
to his shoulders, the nose and teeth hanging down his 
breast. 

16. Another bear's face, split behind it, showed at the 
end of the nose a paw hung down ; half sleeves coming 
down to the elbows were the necks of bears, and their 
arms were running through the mouth of the bear, with 
paws hanging at their noses. One Indian had the head of 
a wolf hanging on a chain for a jewel ; his tobacco pipe 
was three quarters of a yard long, handsomely carved with 
a bird, a deer, or some such figure at the great end, large 
enough to beat out one's brains. Another wore his hair 
long on one side, the other shorn close, with a ridge over his 
crown like the comb of a chicken. 1 lis arrows were one 
yard and a quarter long, headed with the splinters of a 
white stone in the form of a heart, an inch broad, and an 
inch and a half or more long. lie carried these arrows in 
a wolf's skin at his back for his quiver, his bow in one hand 
and his war club in the other. 

17. Such were the strange people among which Lord 
Baltimore's colonists landed. They broke up old associa- 
tions, with ease and plenty at home, encountered the dan- 
gers of the sea during a five months' winter voyage, and 
landed on a shore dotted with the wigwams of savages. 

18. Returning down the river from Piscataway, Gov- 
ernor Calvert, by the advice of Captain Henry Fleet, of 
the Virginia colony, who was making explorations on the 
Potomac River, settled his colony on St. George's River, 
about fifteen miles from the mouth of the Potomac. He 
explored the St. George's River upward to a spot about 



^ THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

twelve miles from its mouth, on which stood a village of 
the raocomico Indians. Calvert purchased from the In- 
dians this village with a large body of land around it, 
which he culled Augusta Carolina. On the 27th of March, 
1634, the colonists, about two hundred in number, took 
formal possession of the purchase, and, settling on the site 
of the village, gave it the name St. Marie's. 

19. The colonists respected the rights of the aboriginal 
proprietors of the soil, acquiring their land only by legiti- 
mate purchase ; and it may be here remarked that, in all 
the subsequent history of Maryland, no war of aggression 
was ever waged by her people against the Indians. 

•20. In the year 1634, Julian time, a portion of the wil- 
derness of Augusta Carolina, now St. Mary's County, was 
divided into grants, intended for actual settlers. Each 
claimant of land, according to Lord Baltimore's " conditions 
of plantation," was required to place on file, in the provin- 
cial land office, evidence in support of his claim. When 
examined and found correct, a warrant for a body of land 
was issued to the claimant, which he held until the land 
could be located and surveyed. When this was done, the 
warrant was surrendered by its holder to the commissioner 
of the land office, and a patent for the land was issued to 
the warrantee under the great seal of the province. "I 
would have you pass in freehold," writes Lord Baltimore to 
the governor of Maryland, " to every one of the first adven- 
turers that shall claim or desire it, and to their heirs, ten 
acres of land within the plots assigned, or to be assigned, for 
the town and fields of St. Marie's, for every person that any 
of said adventurers transported or brought into Maryland." 
21. Patents for lands granted to settlers in the province 
were written on parchment, and impressions in wax from 
the silver dies of the great provincial seal were made and 
suspended at the distance of three or four inches below the 
lower margin of the documents. 



ABUNDANCE OF FISH. 25 

22. The whole extent of the territory of Maryland was, 
at the time of its settlement, densely wooded, there being 
no open or prairie land in the province. The lands along 
the lower Potomac were described as the most healthful 
and pleasing in all the country, and as the most convenient 
for habitation ; the air, temperate in summer, and not vio- 
lent in winter. The river abounded in all manner of fish. 
The Indians in one night would coinmonly catch thirty 
sturgeons in a place where the river was not above twelve 
fathoms broad ; and the woods swarmed with deer, buf- 
faloes, bears, and turkeys. 



CHAPTER III. 
1634-1637. 

Sing Charles I. — His Character. — Lord Baltimore and the Indians. — The First 
Legislature of Maryland. — Clayborne and the Isle of Kent. — Fort of St. 
Mary's. — Settlements along Patuxent and Potomac Rivers. 

1. According to some writers, King Charles I., grantor 
of the charter of Maryland, was religious, chaste, sobei', 
affable, and courageous, yet at the time of the sailing of 
Lord Baltimore's colony from the shores of England he 
was making rapid strides toward waging a war with his 
subjects. This condition of things appeared to call Lord 
Baltimore into the English Parliament, to which he was 
elected in 1634. Having finished all preparations, he intend- 
ed to accompany his colonists to Maryland in person, but 
he changed his mind, and appointed his brothers Leonard 
and George Calvert to go in his stead, the former as gov- 
ernor, with two assistants and councilors, Jeremy Hawley 
and Thomas Cornwaleys. These three gentlemen, there- 
fore, were placed at the head of his lordship's government 
at the time of the settlement of Maryland. 

2. Singular was the sense of justice which marked the 
conduct of Lord Baltimore in every act relating to the In- 
dians, and they looked upon him as their patriarch. To 
them, as well as to the colonists, was he indeed a guardian, 
tempering justice with mercy in every case compatible 
with the principles of order and the great ends of society. 

3. In 1634, within two months from the time of the 
landing of the colonists, Governor Calvert built a log fort 



THE FIRST LEGISLATURE OF MARYLAND. 27 

on the shore of St. Mary's River to protect the settlement 
from pirates on the water and savages on the land, arming- 
it with cannon called " nnirtherers," brought over in the 
Ark and the Dove. On account of the gentle and peaceful 
conduct of the Indians, however, and the absence of pi- 
rates on the river, forts, arsenals, and guns were almost 
useless. This log fort was the first state-house erected in 
Maryland, and herein the first provincial legislature met 
on the 26th of February, 1634, or 1635, New Style. 

4. In this year the colonists were busily engaged in es- 
tablishing themselves in their new homes ; in embellishing 
the wigwams relinquished by the Indians ; in building log- 
houses, erecting a fort, clearing the land, and conciliating 
the natives. They did not think much of law-making, or 
of the necessity of legislating for their future guidance and 
government ; for there was harmony between themselves 
and their strange neighbors of the forest. 

5. But this harmonious state of things was not lasting. 
Before the close of the first year of the provincial govern- 
ment, Governor Calvert found himself in trouble with Wil- 
liam Clayborne, who, in 1631, had obtained a license from 
the King of England to establish a post on Kent Island, 
in the Chesapeake Bay, for trading with the Indians. 

6. Governor Calvert notified Clayborne that, if he re- 
mained on the island, he would be treated as a subject of 
Lord Baltimore's colony. Clayborne applied to the coun- 
cil of the Virginia colony, of which he was a member, for 
advice in this matter. This council, being opposed to the 
grant of Lord Baltimore, maintained the claims of Clay- 
borne, and the latter conspired to destroy the settlement at 
St. Mary's by bringing about hostilities between the colo- 
nists and the Indians. 

7. Drawing Henry Fleet into his schemes as inter- 
preter, Clayborne sought to make the Indians believe that 
Lord Baltimore's people were Spaniards, alike the enemies 



28 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

of themselves and the English. To some extent Clay- 
borne's schemes succeeded, and the colonists were forced 
upon the defensive, but in a few weeks the representations 
of Clayborne, called the evil genius of the colony, were 
proven to be false. 

8. Foiled in this attempt, he resorted to open military 
force in opposition to Lord Baltimore's government. A 
naval engagement on the Chesapeake ensued, in which Wil- 
liam Clayborne did encourage, instigate, and abet Ratcliffe 
Warren, Richard Hancock, Robert Lake, and others to the 
number of fourteen persons, or thereabouts, not having the 
peace of God before their eyes, but being seduced by the 
malicious instigations of Satan, and of malice premeditated, 
to make, as pirates and robbers, an assault upon the ser- 
vants of Thomas Cornwaleys, with guns eharged with pow- 
der and bullets, and to shoot William Ashmore, who in- 
stantly died. 

9. Previous to this engagement, Clayborne had fled to 
Virginia, and Governor Harvey of that colony, instead of 
delivering him up as a criminal against the peace of Lord 
Baltimore, thought it proper to send him and his witnesses 
to England for a hearing. 

10. Governor Calvert commissioned Captain George Eve- 
lyn as commander of the Isle of Kent, who put in force the 
civil authority of the lord proprietary over that island, as 
a part of the province of Maryland. Commissioners were 
dispatched to Virginia to demand the person of Clayborne 
as a rebel and traitor. He had, however, sailed for England. 

11. In Lord Baltimore and a majority of the colonists 
or their deputies, the power of legislation in the province 
was vested ; consequently, in the latter part of the year 
1634, Julian time, or Old Style, which is the same as the 
beginning of the year 1635, Gregorian time, or New Style, 
the first legislature of Maryland met in " the fort of St. 
Mary's." This log fort was the only state-house in the 



THE SECOND LEGISLATURE OF MARYLAND. 29 

province ; and the best authorities declare that the legisla- 
ture met there on the 26th of February, 1635, according to 
our present calendar, which was just eleven months after 
the colonists had taken possession of their new homes. 

12. Of the proceedings of this first legislature of Mary- 
land, not a line of regular record remains ; and, if a subse- 
quent assembly had not made a casual reference to its acts, 
it never would have been known that such a session was 
held. In this manner it became known that " it was enact- 
ed that the offenders in all murders and felonies shall suffer 
such pains, losses, and forfeitures as they should or ought 
to have suffered for the like crimes in England." This is all 
that is known of the proceedings of the first provincial 
legislature of Maryland. 

13. On the 15th of April, 1637, Lord Baltimore granted 
full power and authority to Governor Calvert to assemble 
the freemen or their deputies at St. Mary's on the 25th of 
January in that year, and then and there signify to them 
his dissent to all the laws by them pi-eviously passed, thus 
vetoing the whole proceedings of the first legislature and 
declaring them void. 

14. When the day arrived for the meeting of the assem- 
bly, Governor Calvert appeared and took his seat as presi- 
dent. Thomas Cornwaleys, Robert Wintour, and John Lew- 
ger, of the governor's council, also appeared, and Captain 
Evelyn, commander of the Isle of Kent. 

15. The only remains of the laws passed at this second 
legislature appear in their titles, which alone have come 
down to the present time, to show what engaged the atten- 
tion of the early legislators in Maryland. It is known, how- 
ever, that an act was passed for the attainder of William 
Clayborne, who, as the preamble to the act declares, was 
known to have committed sundry contempts, insolencies, 
and seditions against the dignity and domination of the 
lord proprietary of the province of Maryland. The pre- 



30 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

amble goes on to declare that Clayborne conspired and con- 
trived sundry mischievous machinations and practices with 
the Indians of the province to subvert and destroy the col- 
ony and people of Maryland, and had used certain royal 
powers and jurisdictions in levying soldiers and granting 
letters of reprisal, without authority from the king, the 
lord proprietary, or any other prince or state whatever. 

10. It was also declared that Clayborne had instigated 
certain persons to commit the crimes of piracy and murder, 
and then withdrew himself out of the province. The act 
itself declares that we, the freemen assembled in the present 
general assembly, considering the premises and the necessity 
of exemplary justice to be inflicted on such notorious and 
insolent rebels and disturbers of the peace and safety of the 
inhabitants of this province, and, for the terror of like of- 
fenders in time to come, do request your lordship that it 
be enacted, and be it enacted by the lord proprietary, with 
the advice of the freemen of this present general assembly, 
that the said William Clayborne be attainted of the crimes 
aforesaid, and that he forfeit to the lord proprietary all 
his lands and tenements which he was seized of on the 23d 
day of April, 1035 ; and that he forfeit to the lord pro- 
prietary all his goods and chattels which he has within this 
province at this present time. 

17. On the 27th of March, 1G3S, three days after the 
passage of this act, a proprietary warrant was directed to 
the commander of the Isle of Kent for the seizure of all the 
goods and chattels of William Clayborne, gentleman, within 
that island, and for the keeping of them in safe custody. 
Clayborne had already reached England, where he presented 
a petition to the king, and many of his adherents looked 
forward to a successful establishment of his pretensions. 

18. The number of colonists present or represented in 
the second legislature of Maryland was about ninety, among 
whom were the governor and three councilors ; the secre- 



SETTLEMENTS ALONG THE RIVERS. 



31 



tary, marshal, and high sheriff of the province, and three 
Roman Catholic priests. Captain Henry Fleet, who had 
been permitted to trade in the colony, under the auspices 
and license of Lord Baltimore, was also a member of this 
assembly. 

19. The settlement at St. Mary's still continued to grow 
and prosper ; and it was there that religious freedom in 
North America was first proclaimed. Beginning there, 




GEORGE CALVERT, FIRST LORD BALTIMORE. 



settlements first extended along the Potomac and Patuxent 
rivers, as the fine old colonial mansions shadowing these 
waters still attest. They soon reached the home of the 
Piscataway Indians, who neither bade the colonists come 
nor go ; yet no war ensued. That wild people, induced by 
the gentle influences which now surrounded them, embraced 
Christianity, and assumed the garb and customs of civilized 
life. 



CHAPTER IV. 
1637-1638. 

Troubles with C.aybome. — lie petitions the King. — The Lord Archbishop of 

Canterbury. — Lord Baltimore's Charter and Claybome's License in 
Conflict. 

1. It does not appear that Clayborne was ever brought 
to trial for his crimes committed against the peace of Lord 
Baltimore. Robert Vaughan, who was sent as an officer to 
arrest him and seize his property, made the return that he 
had seized into the lord proprietary's hands the goods and 
chattels belonging to Captain Clayborne, on Palmer's Isl- 
and, situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River. First 
in order, it is mentioned that four of his servants were 
seized, and the return goes on to name certain live stock, 
plantation utensils, some household goods, and strings of 
Indian money. Clayborne had built a trading house on 
Palmer's Island, about the time he made his settlement on 
the Isle of Kent. 

2. In 1637, Clayborne drew up a petition to the king 
of England, setting forth that he with his partners discov- 
ered the Isle of Kent in the great Chesapeake Bay, pur- 
chased it from the Indian kings of Virginia, and planted 
upon it. They asserted that they built houses, transported 
cattle, and settled people on the island, to their very great 
cost and charges. They further deelared that Lord Balti- 
more, taking notice of this settlement, and the great pros- 
pects for trade in furs and other merchandise, obtained a 
patent from the king, including the said island wit Inn its 



CLAYBORNE PETITION'S THE KING. 33 

limits, and sought thereby to dispossess the petitioners and 
deprive them of their discoveries. Clayborne claimed that, 
in a letter addressed to him, the king of England declared 
that, notwithstanding the grant made to Lord Baltimore, 
the petitioners should have freedom of trade on the island. 
He declared that, in defiance of the royal letter, Lord Balti- 
more's agents had seized the petitioners' boats and goods, 
and killed three of their men. 

.3. Clayborne\s petition to the king further sets forth 
that he had established a plantation and factory on a small 
island in the mouth of a river in the Susquehannock country, 
and had, at their desire, purchased the same of the Indians, 
by means of which said petitioners were in great hopes of 
drawing thither the trade of beavers and fur which the 
French enjoyed in the Grand Lake of Canada. To defeat 
this, said the petitioners, Lord Baltimore's agents went 
with forty men " to supplant the said plantations, to take 
possession thereof, and seat themselves thereon." 

4. The petitioners offered the king an annual rent of 
one hundred pounds for the quiet possession of Kent and 
Palmer's islands, and twelve leagues of land on each side 
of the Susquehanna River, extending along that river from 
its mouth down the Chesapeake Bay southerly to the sea- 
ward, thence to the head of the river and to the Grand Lake 
of Canada. 

5. In concluding their petition they humbly offered the 
following prayer to the king : " May it, therefore, please 
your majesty to grant a confirmation of your majesty's 
commission and letter under your majesty's broad seal for 
the quiet enjoyment of the said plantations, and to refer the 
speedy examination of the said wrongs and injuries unto 
whom your majesty shall please to think fit, to certify to 
your majesty thereof ; and that your petitioners may pro- 
ceed without interruption of the Lord Baltimore's agents." 

(5. The king considered the proposals made by the peti- 



M THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

tioners, and ordered that the whole matter be referred to 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, and "any others the com- 
missioners of plantations," who should be near at hand and 
whom they might be pleased to call to their aid. Their re- 
port was to be prepared by the attorney for the crown and 
presented for the king's signature and seal. 

7. On the 4th of April, 1038, the Lord Archbishop of 
Canterbury and other commissioners met at Whitehall to 
take into consideration the petition of Clayborne and his 
partners, which had been referred to them by the king. 
They reported that all parties attended their lordships on 
that day, with their learned counsel, and were fully heard. 

8. It appeared clearly to their lordships, and was con- 
fessed by Clayborne himself, then present, that the Isle of 
Kent was within the bounds and limits of Lord Baltimore's 
patent. Clayborne's commission was only a license under 
the signet of Scotland to trade with the Indians in Ameri- 
ca, in such places where the privileges of such trade had 
not formerly been granted by his majesty to any other. 

9. Their lordships declared that Clayborne's license did 
not give any warrant to him to trade or plant on the Isle 
of Kent, or in any other parts or places with the Indians or 
savages within the precincts of Lord Baltimore's patents. 

10. The letter to Clayborne over the king's signature, 
in reference to the license under the signet of Scotland, 
was grounded upon misinformation by supposing that the 
said license, granted in 1031, warranted plantation on the 
Isle of Kent. The privileges of trade only were granted, 
and not those of plantation: Lord Baltimore was, there- 
fore, left to the right of his charter, and the petitioners to 
the course of law. 

11. Concerning the violence and wrongs complained of 
by Clayborne in his petition to the king, it was declared 
that no cause for relief was found ; and all parties there- 
fore were left to the common course of justice. 



LORD BALTIMORE'S GRANT. 35 

12. In 1630, George, Lord Baltimore, obtained from the 
King of England, under his privy signet, a grant of the ter- 
ritory of Crescentia or Maryland, which virtually confirmed 
that grant unto his lordship, his heirs and assigns, yet the 
preliminaries to its passage under the great seal of the 
realm were not arranged until the middle of the year 1632. 
Lord Baltimore's grant, therefore, antedated Clayborne's li- 
cense, and it will be seen that his expulsion from the island 
was not an act of injustice. 

13. In 1G38, close upon the settlement of the difficulties 
between Lord Baltimore and William Clayborne, the gov- 
ernor of Virginia issued a proclamation prohibiting all per- 
sons inhabiting that colony from trade or commerce with 
the Indians or savages of the province of Maryland, with- 
out license first obtained from Lord Baltimore or his sub- 
stitute. 



CHAPTER Y. 
1638-1646. 

Provincial Missionaries. — Indians embrace Christianity. — Troubles about Reli- 
gion and the Isle of Kent. — Governor Calvert sails for England. — Governor 
Brent. — Captain Richard Ingle. — Rebellion against Lord Baltimore.— In- 
gle's Raid on St. Mary's.— The Fort captured.— Provincial Records and 
the Great Seal carried off. — Great Seal described. 

1. During the continuance of the troubles with Clay- 
borne and his adherents, the provincial missionaries were 
not interrupted in their good work among the Indians. 
The work, under the direction of Fathers White and Af- 
tham, spread rapidly around the settlement, and was so 
successful that, in 1640, Tayae, king of the Piscataways, 
his queen, their son, and a number of the leading men and 
women of the tribe, embraced Christianity and were bap- 
tized according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church. 

2. Prior to the year 1(k5S. no disputes concerning re- 
ligion appeared to disturb the harmony of the province, 
but in that year the records show that William Lewis, a 
Roman Catholic, was brought into court on account of the 
use of words " tending to the opening of a faction in re- 
ligion." The offense consisted in denouncing the ministers 
of the Protestant religion as the ministers of Satan ; but he 
was acquitted of the charge that he forbade his servants to 
have or use Protestant books in his house. 

P>. The court, in delivering* its opinion and sentence, 
said in substance : Because these offensive speeches and 
other unreasonable disputes in point of religion tend to the 



GOVERNMENT OF MARYLAND REORGANIZED. 37 

disturbance of the public peace, you, the said William 
Lewis, are fined in the sum of five hundred pounds of to- 
bacco for the use of the lord proprietary. Governor Cal- 
vert and Secretary Lewger approved the sentence of the 
court, the fine was imposed, and the offender was held to 
bail for good behavior in the future. 

4. From 1630 to 1642, an uninterrupted peace prevailed 
in the colony, save when, now and then, Governor Calvert 
with small forces of men was compelled to check certain 
disturbers of the peace ; yet none of his operations assumed 
the dignity and proportions of war. 

5. On the 4th day of September, 1642, Lord Baltimore 
granted full power and authority to the governor of the 
province to remit in part or in whole all pains, forfeitures, 
or penalties which any person or persons within the prov- 
ince incurred for any crime, misdemeanor, or offense against 
the laws, ordinances, or orders thereof ; and to grant par- 
dons in all cases, so that such pardons should not extend to 
the pardoning of high treason. In the time of Lord Balti- 
more, and the early history of Maryland, high treason was 
defined as "an offense committed against the security of 
the king or kingdom, whether by imagination, word, or 
deed." 

6. In the last mentioned year, the government of Mary- 
land was reorganized by the lord proprietary. He con- 
ferred great powers upon Leonard Calvert, the governor, 
and appointed Francis Trafford, Thomas Cornwaleys, John 
Lewger, Willam Blount, and John Langford as councilors 
of state. 

7. Reposing special trust and confidence in the wisdom, 
diligence, and experience of these gentlemen, his lordship 
gave them full power and authority to meet together with 
the governor, when and where he should appoint, to treat, 
consult, and deliberate of all causes that should be discov- 
ered unto them. He gave them power to -all before them 



38 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

all offenders against the peace of the province, that they 
might be properly punished, and especially did his lord- 
ship command them to bring to justice all offenders in 
weights and measures, all forestallers of markets, extortion- 
ers, and rioters, and other offenders against the public wel- 
fare and peace of the province of Maryland. 

8. "Having long experience, 1 ' writes his lordship, "of 
the abilities and industry of our trusty and well-beloved 
councilor, John Lewger, Esquire, in performing unto us 
good and faithful services, we do appoint and ordain him 
to be our secretary of our province of Maryland, and judge 
of all causes testamentary and matrimonial within our said 
province." 

9. Soon after the reorganization of the government, 
which placed men of great administrative abilities at its 
head, the Susquehannoek Indians became troublesome, and 
Governor Calvert published that " there shall be an expe- 
dition set forth against the enemies of this province." 
Councilor Cornwaleys was appointed as general of the 
expedition ; but the means for defraying its expenses were 
not at hand. Anns and ammunition were scarce, and the 
people lukewarm and discontented concerning it. In view 
of these facts, the governor declared that he thought fit to 
advise further of the intended expedition, and revoked all 
powers and commissions touching it. It was therefore 
abandoned. 

10. In April, 1643, he sailed from the fort of St. Mary's, 
bound to England, and Captain Giles Brent, who, in 1639, 
was made commander of the Isle of Kent, took the chair 
as acting governor of Maryland, at the instance of Gov- 
ernor Calvert. 

11. At this time Governor Brent owned one thousand 
acres of land on the Isle of Kent, which had been patented 
to him by Lord Baltimore's request in 1640, under the name 
of " Manor of Kent Fort," 



CAPTAIX RICHARD INGLE. 39 

12. Dating the 14th of July, 1643, Lord Baltimore, im- 
mediately upon the arrival of Governor Calvert in England, 
confirmed the appointment of Captain Brent as governor 
of Maryland, to act as such during his absence. 

13. A contest between the king and Parliament had 
taken place in England, which was likely to result in civil 
war; and it appears that this state of things caused Lord 
Baltimore to defer a contemplated visit to Maryland. His 
lordship directed the new governor to suspend the granting 
of lands to actual settlers until his arrival. 

14. On the 18th of November, 1643, having abandoned 
his visit to Maryland, his lordship issued to Governor Brent 
and certain commissioners, whom he named for the purpose, 
strict orders for the management of his farm at West St. 
Mary's, and the sale of all his carpenters and other appren- 
ticed servants, which he thought would bring him two 
thousand pounds of tobacco apiece. 

15. Governor Calvert, continuing in England in the days 
of slow sailing, knew but little of the troubles that threat- 
ened the province. It is true the Susquehannock Indians 
were not so troublesome to the colonists as he anticipated, 
yet more serious troubles, than the savages were likely to 
cause, arose from the civilized foes of the lord proprietary 
and his provincial agents. 

16. Captain Richard Ingle, called a manner, rebel, and 
pirate, sailed about the settlement in an armed ship, striv- 
ing to increase the number of Lord Baltimore's enemies. 
The Indians assumed a warlike attitude, and troubles thick- 
ened in every direction. Governor Brent charged Ingle 
with high treason and issued a proclamation for his arrest 
and the seizure of his ship ; but, although he was taken pris- 
oner, he soon made his escape, with only the loss of his 
ship, in January, 1643. 

17. In September, 1644, seventeen months after his de- 
parture for England, Governor Calvert landed in Maryland, 



40 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

bringing with him new commissions for the government of 
the province. On landing, he received the intelligence that 
his officers were at variance ; the Indians hostile ; the pi- 
rate Ingle at large : Clayborne again in possession of Kent 
Island ; and the affairs of the province in general dis- 
order. 

18. The governor at once dispatched a reconnoitering 
party to Kent Island, put the forts into as good state of 
defense as possible, and issued his proclamation for holding 
a general assembly on the 3d of December following. 

19. On the 13th of February, B>44, Julian time, Ingle 
returned in force, surprised the sentinels at the fort of St. 
Mary's, and carried off all the records and the great seal of 
the province. 

20. Clayborne was the mainspring of this rebellion 
against Lord Baltimore. His aim was to deprive his lord- 
ship of the charter and government of Maryland, and his 
first step, therefore, was to seize the records, that the af- 
fairs of the province might fall into anarchy. Governor 
Calvert fled into Virginia for safety ; Clayborne and 
Ingle seized the strongholds of the province, and the 
friends of Lord Baltimore were reduced to a silent submis- 
sion. 

21. In Virginia, Governor Calvert raised an army 
true to his interests ; and, in December, 1646, he crossed 
the Potomac, surprised the rebels in his march, gained 
bloodless victories as he advanced, and entered St. Mary's 
in triumph with the reins of government firmly in his 
hands. 

22. On resuming his duties, Governor Calvert found 
himself greatly embarrassed on account of a difficulty 
which, in his absence from the province, had arisen be- 
tween Secretary Lewger and Governor Brent, concerning a 
military commission issued under the great seal to Henry 
Fleet. On the 18th of June, 1644, during the governor's 



THE GREAT SEAL NEVER RECOVERED. 41 

absence, a commission was issued to Captain Fleet, au- 
thorizing him to move against the Susquehannock Indians 
with twenty men ; to make peace, if possible ; or, if he 
thought best, to capture or slay them, and break off all 
intercourse between them and the Piscataways. This com- 
mission carried on its face the signature of Giles Brent, 
Esq. ; and, on the 26th of August, 1614, Governor Brent 
issued a proclamation affecting the official character of the 
secretary. 

23. The governor declared that Secretary Lewger, 
without any authority derived from Lord Baltimore or his 
lieutenant-general, had presumed to counterfeit and deliv- 
er unto Captain Fleet a commission for treating a peace 
with the enemies of the province, the Susquehannocks, and 
for making Avar against them or other Indians. The gov- 
ernor asserted further that, to the commission in question, 
the secretary had presumed to counterfeit and affix his 
lordship's great seal and his lieutenant's hand, which re- 
quired severe reproof, for which he suspended him from the 
office of secretary and councilor in the province. 

24. It will be seen that Secretary Lewger made use of 
the great seal in June, 1644, and that it was seized by In- 
gle in February of that year. To reconcile this apparent 
error in dates, it must be remembered that, according to 
the Julian calendar, June came earlier in the year than 
February, which was next to the last month in the year. 

25. Secretary Lewger, in the governor's absence, issued 
Fleet's commission in an hour when, in his opinion, great 
danger threatened the province. Governor Calvert ap- 
proved his conduct, and the hasty proclamation of Brent 
was condemned by the silence concerning it. Lewger was 
promoted to the office of attorney-general and register in 
the provincial land office. 

26. The great seal of the province seized by Ingle and 
his accomplices was never recovered. It was brought over 



±•2 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

to the province by Governor Calvert with the colonists in 
the Ark and the Dove. 

27. On one side of this seal was a figure of Lord Balti- 
more on horseback, armed and equipped as a Crusader ; his 
sword drawn and helmet on, and a great plume of feathers 
affixed to it, the horse-trappings, furniture, and caparison 
being adorned with the figure of his paternal coat of arms. 
Under the horse is represented a seashore with certain flow- 
ers and grass growing upon it. On the border of this side 
of the seal is a Latin inscription which means Cecilius, Ab- 
solute Lord of Maryland and Avalon, Baron of Baltimore. 

28. On the other or counter side of the seal is the figure 
of an escutcheon or shield, whereon is engraved his lord- 
ship's paternal coat of arms, and a budding cross designat- 
ing the family of Alicia Crossland, his grandmother. The 
escutcheon is supported by the figures of a fisherman and 
farmer, as symbols of the thrift of Maryland on land and 
water. These figures are represented as standing on a scroll, 
upon which is engraved a motto in the Italian language, 
" Fatti Maschii Parole Femine," meaning " Manly deeds 
and womanly words." 

29. Above the shield is represented a count palatine's 
cap, which symbolizes the powers of a king, extending to 
the pardon of treason, murders, and felonies, and such were 
the powers of Lord Baltimore in Maryland. 

30. Above the cap is the figure of a helmet with the 
crest of his lordship's paternal coat of arms on the top of it, 
which crest is a ducal crown with two half bannerets set 
upright upon it. The name banneret was once used to 
mark a partially created baron. By these small flags or 
bannerets Lord Baltimore symbolized his promotion from 
a lower order of hereditary nobility to that of a baron or 
bearer of the square flag. 

31. On the same side of the seal, behind the shield and 
supporters, is represented a large mantle doubled or lined 



GREAT SEAL DESCRIBED. 43 

with ermine. Ermine is the skin of an animal of the same 
name. It is milk-white, and will rather be taken captive or 
die than soil its whiteness ; so Lord Baltimore, by the use 
of ermine to line his robe or mantle, symbolized to the colo- 
nists of Maryland that he would rather die than soil the 
spotless ermine of his character. Around the border of 
this side of the seal is a Latin inscription, which means, 
" With the shield of thy good will thou hast crowned us," 
referring to Charles I., king of England, grantor of the 
charter of Maryland. The form of the seal was round and 
cut in silver, and was about three and a half inches in diam- 
eter, as seen in the engraving. 

32. The loss of the records, during Clayborne and Ingle's 
rebellion, was severely felt by the colonists, on account of 
the confusion into which the public business of the colony 
was thereby thrown. Their loss is still acutely felt by the 
historian of these early days, who finds himself without the 
surest and best means of information concerning a most in- 
teresting period of colonial history. 



CHAPTER VI. 
1647-1649. 

Death of Governor Calvert, — Governor Greene. — Captain William Stone. — 
Proclamations of Pardon. — Captain Stone appointed Governor of Mary- 
land. — His Oath of Office. — Sixteen Laws proposed. — The New Great Seal. 
— The Legislature of 1649. — "Toleration Act" passed. 

1. On the 9th of June, 1647, Governor Calvert, a bache- 
lor, surrounded by his friends, died peacefully at St. Mary's. 

2. Thomas Greene, who came over with the first settlers, 
or very soon after, had been nominated by the deceased as 
governor of the province. He acted as such until the ap- 
pointment of William Stone by the lord proprietary. 

3. Under date June 21, 1647, Governor Greene addressed 
Edward Hill, who sometimes had acted as governor under 
a temporary commission from the council of state, and said : 
" The government is now lawfully reinstated on me, and 
his lordship's right and title I am resolved to defend and 
maintain with all that is dear unto me — my life." 

4. One of his first acts as governor was to issue a proc- 
lamation declaring that, by the instigation of one Richard 
Ingle, sundry inhabitants of the province had unfortunately 
run themselves into a rebellion against the lord proprie- 
tary, but are now returned into obedience. 

5. He declared, therefore, that a free pardon be extended 
unto every inhabitant residing within the province for all 
crimes of rebellion, sedition, and plunder committed within 
the province from the 14th of February, 1644, to the 16th 
of April, 1647. He further declared that every other person 



CAPTAIN STONE APPOINTED GOVERNOR. ±r } 

residing out of the province confessing sorrow for his fault, 
and asking pardon for the same before the time of the feast 
of St. Michael the Archangel, in 1047, should receive pardon 
at his hand under the great seal of the province, excepting 
Richard Ingle, mariner. 

G. In August, 1648, Lord Baltimore issued a commission, 
revoking all former commissions issued to any governor or 
member of his council in Maryland, which suddenly removed 
them from office. His lordship gave no reasons for this 
course of conduct. The provincial records are silent on the 
subject, and all that is known is that he appeared to do 
what he did for reasons satisfactory to himself. 

7. This act of his lordship suddenly removed Governor 
Greene from office ; and power was given to his successor, 
when appointed, to appoint all officers of the government, 
except councilors, to call assemblies, to assent to laws, to 
appoint places for seaports, to establish fairs and markets, 
to grant pardons, and make grants of land. 

8. Dating the 12th of August, 1G48, Lord Baltimore 
writes that William Stone, then, or late, of Northampton 
County, Virginia, had undertaken in some short tiine to 
bring five hundred people of British or Irish descent into 
the province to plant and reside there. In view of this 
undertaking on the part of Captain Stone, his lordship 
appointed him his lieutenant, chief governor, general, ad- 
miral, marshal, chief captain, and commander in Maryland. 
He granted to him absolute authority in all matters of war- 
fare by sea and land, and directed him to administer the 
same to the resistance of all enemies and the suppression of 
mutinies and insolencies. 

9. " I do swear," says Governor Stone, on taking the 
oath of office, " that I will be true and faithful to the Right 
Honorable Cecilius, Lord Baron of Baltimore, the true and 
absolute lord and proprietary of the province of Mary- 
land. 



46 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

10. " I will never accept of, nor execute, any place, office, 
or employment within the said province in any way con- 
cerning or relating to the government thereof, from any 
person or authority, save that derived from his lordship 
under his hand and seal at arms. 

11. "I will do equal right and justice to the poor and to 
the rich within the said province to my best skill, judgment, 
and power. I will not for fear, affection, or favor hinder 
or delay justice to any, but shall truly execute the said office 
and offices according to his lordship's commissions to me. 

12. " I will in all things from time to time, as occasion 
shall require, faithfully counsel and advise his lordship 
according to my heart and conscience. 

13. " I will not make any difference of persons in confer- 
ring offices, rewards, or favors, proceeding from the au- 
thority of his lordship, on account of their religion ; but 
shall proceed accordingly as I shall find them faithful, 
well-deserving, and endowed with moral virtues and abili- 
ties, fitting for such offices, rewards, or favors. 

14. "If any officer or person, without my privity, shall 
molest or disturb any person within the province of Mary- 
land, merely for or in respect to his or her religion, or the 
free exercise thereof, I will apply my power and authority 
to relieve and protect any person so troubled or molested. 

15. " I will faithfully serve his lordship as his chancellor 
and keeper of his great seal of this province, committed to 
my charge and custody, to the best of my understand- 
ing. 

16. "I will cause the impressions in wax of the said 
seal to be affixed to all such things as I have or shall, from 
time to time, receive warrant for so doing from his lordship 
under his hand and seal at arms." 

17. On the 12th of August, 1648, the same day on which 
William Stone was made governor, Lord Baltimore appointed 
Thomas Greene, late governor, John Priee, Thomas Hatton, 



SIXTEEN LAWS PROPOSED. 47 

John Pile, and Robert Vaughan to be bis privy council of 
state in tbe province of Maryland. 

18. On tbe same day, Jobn Price was appointed to tbe 
office of muster master general, Robert Vaugban, command- 
er of tbe Isle of Kent, and Thomas Hatton, secretary of 
tbe province. 

19. On the same day, dating at Bath, England, his lord- 
sbip writes to the governor and council that he had seriouslv 
considered of several acts or laws, being sixteen in number, 
and written on three sheets of parchment, with impressions 
from his greater seal at arms affixed to them. 

20. He says these acts or laws were proposed to him for 
the good and quiet settlement of the colony and people of 
Maryland ; and, finding them very fit to be enacted as 
laws, he consented tbat Governor Stone should propose 
them to an assembly of the freemen of the province. 

21. He declared tbat, if all the said acts or laws should, 
within twelve months from the day of his dating, be en- 
acted into laws for the government of the province, he 
would, and not otherwise, assent to them ; and at the same 
time declared bis dissent to every law enacted in the prov- 
ince prior to the appointment of Governor Stone, except the 
act for the attainder and condemnation of William Clay- 
borne. 

'2:2. On the same day, August 12, 1648, his lordship 
issued a commission concerning a new great seal for the 
province, which be had prepared to take the place of the 
one seized by Ingle. He sent it over to the province in the 
custody and keeping of Governor Stone, with an accurate 
description of the devices engraved upon it. He said it was 
of the same bigness that his former great seal was, and cut 
in silver. He affixed its impressions in wax to the docu- 
ment, which gave it authority, and said it was somewhat 
different, though but little, from tbe first great seal seized 
in Ingle's rebellion. 



48 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

23. With a, new governor, council of state, and great 
seal, the government of the province was now fully organ- 
ized, and the next steps to be taken were in the direction of 
calling a legislative assembly to enact laws for the govern- 
ment of the province. It was called to meet at St. Mary's 
on the 2d of April, 1649. 

24. On that day, the legislature met, according to ap- 
pointment, and passed the acts proposed to Lord Baltimore, 
as before stated, being sixteen in number, and written on 
three sheets of parchment. 

25. One of these laws provided for the punishment of 
persons guilty of profaning the Sabbath by frequently 
swearing, drunkenness, or working on that day, unless in 
case of absolute necessity. 

26. This act further declares that, whereas, the enforcing 
of conscience in matters of religion has frequently been of 
dangerous consequence in those commonwealths where it 
has been practiced, no person or persons whatsoever within 
this province, or the islands, ports, harbors, creeks, or ha- 
vens thereunto belonging, shall henceforth in any way be 
troubled, molested, or discountenanced in respect to his or 
her religion, or the free exercise of the same. The act had 
reference only to persons professing to believe in the Chris- 
tian religion, and its passage and approval formed one of 
the Greatest o-lories of Governor Stone's administration. 



CHAPTER VII. 
1649-1652. 

King Charles I. — His Trial and Execution. — The Puritan Revolution — 
Troubles in Maryland. —Governor Greene's Proclamations. — King- Charles 
II. — Oliver Cromwell. — Civil War in England. — Sir William Davenant. — 
Troubles in the Maryland Legislature. 

1. While Lord Baltimore was preparing new commis- 
sions on the 12th of August, 1618, for the government of 
the province of Maryland, grave conflicts were going on 
between King Charles I. and the Parliament of England ; 
and the issue was as to whether the king or Parliament 
should be master of the nation ; or, in other words, whether 
the king should be the lord or the servant of the people. 
War was desolating the kingdom, and the king was over- 
thrown, tried by a court called for the purpose, and con- 
demned to death. 

2. On the 30th of January, 1648, Julian time, which is 
the same as the 30th of January, 1649, according to the 
present calendar, the king was executed. On the day of 
his execution, he walked firmly to the scaffold and laid his 
head upon the block as calmly as upon a pillow. "I go," 
said he, "from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown.'' 
Thus perished King Charles L, who granted to Lord Balti- 
more a charter for the province of Maryland. 

3. The civil war in England which dethroned King 
Charles I. is known in history as the Avar of the Puritan 
revolution, and the consequences which resulted from that 
war brought about great troubles in Maryland. 



50 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

4. It was declared that the king desired to enslave the 
people of England, and that Lord Baltimore would, if he 
could, treat the people of Maryland in the same way. This 
kind of feeling found its way into the legislature of 1649, 
and opposed the passage of the sixteen laws hereinbefore 
referred to, which were written on three sheets of parch- 
ment, and delivered through the hands of Secretary Hatton 
to Governor Stone. 

5. Lord Baltimore, in commenting upon this state of feel- 
ing in the minds of certain members of the legislature, 
declared it was intended by his charter that he should have 
all such jurisdiction in Maryland as the Bishop of Durham 
exercised in the county palatine of Durham, in the kingdom 
of England. 

6. " We are well satisfied," said his lordship, " by learned 
counsel and such as are best read in antiquities that the 
bishops of Durham before the time of Henry VIII. did 
exercise all royal jurisdiction within the said county pala- 
tine." 

7. That Lord Baltimore should attempt to exercise the 
powers of a king in the county palatine of Maryland created 
sentiments of alarm in the minds of some people, increasing, 
no doubt, the number of the friends of the parliament in 
the province, yet it does not appear that his lordship's 
reputation as a wise and humane ruler suffered from any 
quarter. 

8. Immediately after the death of King Charles, the 
Parliament of England passed an act to the effect that no 
person whatever should presume to declare Charles Stuart, 
son of the late King Charles, commonly called the Prince 
of Wales, or any other person, to be king or chief magis- 
trate of England, or of any dominions belonging thereto. 
Any person violating this act was to be adjudged a traitor 
and brought to suffer accordingly. 

9. On receiving the news of the death of King Charles, 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 5 J 

however, yet, perhaps, before receiving that of the passage 
of the above act of parliament, Thomas Greene, acting 
governor of Maryland, during the temporary absence^of 
Governor Stone, proclaimed the said Charles Stuart king 
of England, France, Scotland, and Ireland. 

10. " Whereas," says the governor, dating at St. Mary's, 
"Charles of blessed memory, King of England, Scotland, 
France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, is lately de- 
ceased, these are to give notice to all persons whom it 
may concern, and in especial to all and singular the inhabit- 
ants of the province of Maryland, that his eldest son 
Charles, the most renowned Prince of Wales, the undoubt- 
ed rightful heir to all his father's dominions, is hereby pro- 
claimed King Charles the Second of England, Scotland, 
France, and Ireland. Long live King Charles the "Second ! " 

11. At the same time, Governor Greene issued another 
proclamation, in the name of the lord proprietary, and pro- 
nounced a general pardon to all the inhabitants of Mary- 
land for all offenses committed by them or any of them 
since the last general pardon. 

12. This hasty action on the part of Governor Greene, 
in the face of the act of Parliament declaring it treason, 
brought about a speedy extension of the authority of the 
Parliament over the province of Maryland, and Lord Balti- 
more, for a few years, was deprived of his absolute lord- 
ship in respect to the government. 

13. In August, 1650, Oliver Cromwell seized upon the 
strong places in Ireland, but was soon forced to return to 
England upon the advice that the Scots had taken up arms 
in favor of Charles, son of the late king. Before the re- 
joicings on account of Governor Greene's proclamation had 
died away, the news of Cromwell's victories reached Mary- 
land, and the government of Lord Baltimore was in con- 
fusion. 

14. At a place called Providence, now Annapolis, a 



52 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

number of people professing the Protestant religion set- 
tled in the time of Governor Stone's administration. They 
were called Puritans, or Dissenters, and they professed to 
follow the pure word of God in opposition to all traditions 
and human constitutions. They came from Virginia and 
from England, settling on the Chesapeake and its tributa- 
ries south of the Severn River. 

15. In England, Charles, son of the late king, continued 
to fight for his crown. He put himself at the head of fif- 
teen thousand foot and three thousand horse, and marched 
upon Cromwell from Scotland. On entering England, the 
young king was honorably received. Cromwell found him 
encamped within a mile of the city of Worcester. An en- 
gagement followed, and after several hours of hard fighting 
the king's forces were repulsed. His cavalry fled before the 
victorious troops of Cromwell, and all his infantry were either 
slain or made prisoners. The king himself narrowly es- 
caped capture. He fled from Worcester through St. Mar- 
tin's Gate, and resolved to retire into France. 

1G. The fugitive king, disguised as a peasant, was, by 
a guide, led along by day and by night through unfrequent- 
ed places in the direction of France ; and, on his journey, 
he spent one whole day concealed among the thick branches 
of an oak-tree. Under the tree, he saw several persons who 
were speaking of him, and expressing the wish that he 
might fall into their hands. He, however, arrived safely 
in France. 

17. While in exile, the young king appointed Sir Wil- 
liam Davenant governor of Maryland. This act was a 
strange infringement upon the right of Lord Baltimore, 
and Sir William, regarding it as not well calculated to ad- 
vance his interests or those of the young king, refused the 
honors of the office. 

18. On the 6th day of April, 1050, the legislative as- 
sembly of Maryland met, and, on the first day of its sitting, 



LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS. 53 

passed an act dividing itself into an upper and a lower 
house. 

19. At the same session an act was passed "erecting 
Providence into a county by the name of Ann Arundel 
County." By this act that part of the province of Mary- 
land on the west side of the bay of Chesapeake, over against 
the Isle of Kent, formerly called by the name of Provi- 
dence, was erected into a shire or county by the name of 
" Ann Arundel County." 

20. This legislature passed also an act of recognition of 
the lawful and undoubted right and title of the Right Honor- 
able Cecilius, Lord Baron of Baltimore, absolute lord and 
proprietary of the province of Maryland, unto the said 
province, and unto all islands, ports, and creeks to the same 
belonging. 

21. The act declared that great and manifold were the 
benefits wherewith an overruling Providence had blessed 
the colony first brought and planted within the province at 
his lordship's charge, and continued by his care and indus- 
try in the happy restitution of a blessed peace unto the in- 
habitants ; but more inestimable were the blessings poured 
upon the province in planting Christianity among a people 
that knew not God. 

22. This legislature doubted not that their posterity 
would remember the same with all fidelity to the honor of 
his lordship and his heirs for ever. 

23. In 1651, a report to the effect that the government of 
Maryland was about to be taken from Lord Baltimore rap- 
idly spread over the province, casting gloomy shadows over 
the prospects of the people. The report was grounded upon 
some fears expressed in England that " a dissolution or resig- 
nation there of his lordship's patent and right to the province " 
was probable on the change of the government in that coun- 
try ; and that, consequently, Maryland would be reduced 
under the control of the commissioners of Parliament. 



54 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

24. On the 26th of August in this year, Lord Baltimore 
prepared a message to his governor and council in Mary- 
land on the subject of this report, and treated it as a light 
matter. Some of the settlements had, on account of the 
report, refused to send delegates to the provincial assembly 
at St. Mary's, and, in order to punish the people for this 
refusal, his lordship threatened to declare them "enemies 
to the public peace of the province and rebels to the lawful 
government thereof." 

25. The Puritans of Providence refused, at first, a rep- 
resentation in the assembly, yet, after a visit from Governor 
Stone to turn them from such a course, they changed their 
minds, and in the next assembly they had a majority. 

26. The rumor concerning the reduction of the province 
under the control of the commissioners of Oliver Cromwell's 
Parliament gained currency, and at length proved to be true. 

27. On the 26th of September, 1651, John Bradshaw, 
president of the board of commissioners of Parliament, 
signed a letter of instructions to Robert Dennis, Richard 
Bennet, Thomas Stagg, and William Clayborne, for the 
reduction of Virginia and the inhabitants thereof to their 
due obedience to the commonwealth of England. It ap- 
pears that the word Virginia was intended to include Mary- 
land, Virginia, and a number of the West India islands, for it 
is seen that Richard Bennet and William Clayborne, dating 
St. Mary's, March 29, 1652, issued a proclamation declaring 
the commissions of the governor and council of Maryland 
null and void. 

28. They declared that the right honorable the council 
of state for the commonwealth of England had committed 
to them several powers for reducing, settling, and govern- 
ing all the plantations within the bay of Chesapeake. 

29. That, having applied themselves to the governor 
and council of Maryland, requiring these gentlemen to sub- 
mit thereto and act accordingly, they refused, as the act of 



CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT. 55 

submission would be inconsistent to tbe patent of Lord 
Baltimore and their oaths of fidelity to him. 

30. That, if these gentlemen would submit to the au- 
thority of Parliament, they might remain in their offices, 
conforming themselves to the laws of the commonwealth 
of England in point of government only, and not infringing 
Lord Baltimore's just rights. 

31. The commissioners of Parliament appointed Robert 
Brooke, Francis Yardley, Job Chandler, Edward Wind- 
ham, Richard Preston, and Richard Banks, to act as gov- 
ernor and council in Maryland, with power to issue all 
writs, warrants, and processes in the name of the keepers 
of the liberty of England by authority of Parliament. 

32. That the new council of Maryland should first take 
upon themselves the obligation that they would be true 
and faithful to the commonwealth of England, as it is now 
established, without king or house of lords, and then tender 
the same to all the inhabitants of the province. 

33. It was further declared that the said council of 
Maryland, or any two or more of them, Robert Brooke at 
all times to be one, should govern the province, and hold 
courts as often as they thought fit. 

34. That, also, this council should summon a legislative 
assembly to meet on the 24th of June, 1652, the members 
whereof were to be chosen only by the freemen who had 
taken upon themselves the above obligation. " 

35. That neither by the council nor in the said assembly 
should anything be enacted contrary to the laws of Eng- 
land or to the obedience due to the commonwealth. 

36. On the 28th of June, 1652, Clayborne and Bennet 
issued from St. Mary's another proclamation, declaring that, 
as William Stone at their motion and request, and at the 
desire of the inhabitants of Maryland, was content to re- 
sume his former place as governor, reserving to himself, 
Thomas Ilatton, Robert Brooke, and John Price, their 



56 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

oaths made to Lord Baltimore, they should be reinstated 
in their respective offices. 

37. They therefore placed William Stone at the head 
of the new government ; and, as a council of state, ap- 
pointed Thomas Hatton, Robert Brooke, John Price, Job 
Chandler, Francis Yardley, and Richard Preston. 

38. These gentlemen were to govern, order, and direct 
the affairs of Maryland, to hold courts of justice, and deal 
with all matters relating to the peace and prosperity of the 
people, until further orders from England to the contrary. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
1652-1658. 

The Indians in Maryland.— A Treaty of Peace. — Governor Stone and Captain 
Clay borne. — Cromwell's Commissioners in Maryland.— Governor Fendall. 

1. The government and people of Maryland soon found 
that they had to deal with the aboriginal inhabitants of the 
soil, who presented to them some new and curious views of 
human nature, which had not been met with in the Old 
World. 

2. The savages of Maryland were natives of a temper- 
ate climate, and therefore not so degenerate as those found 
under the latitudes of extreme heat or extreme cold. They 
were the most noble of savages, in whom the unaided pow- 
ers of nature appeared with great dignity. Virtue, how- 
ever, in their esteem, appeared to consist alone in those 
elevating qualities which are associated with the idea of 
bravery, and they were not affected with the fears of futu- 
rity which often render death terrible to contemplate. Their 
heaven was accommodated to the rudeness of their ideas, 
and located in a serene sky far in the sunset, where they 
should for ever enjoy the pleasures of a successful chase. 

3. On the 5th of July, 1652, a treaty of peace was con- 
cluded on the banks of the Severn River, "between the 
English nation in the province of Maryland and the Indian 
nation of Susquehanogh." 

4. The "several articles of this treaty were solemnly 
and mutually debated and concluded at the river of Sev- 
ern in the province of Maryland" by Richard Bennet, 



58 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Edward Lloyd, William Fuller, Thomas Marsh, and Leon- 
ard Strong, on the part of " the English nation," and by 
the grand treasurer, war captains, and councilors of " the 
nation and state of the Susquehanoghs." 

5. This treaty stipulated that the English nation afore- 
said should have, hold, enjoy to themselves, their heirs, and 
assigns for ever, all the land lying from Patuxent River to 
Palmer's Island on the western side of the bay of Chesa- 
peake ; and from Choptank River to the northeast branch, 
which lies to the northward of Elk River on the eastern 
side of the said bay. These boundaries included all the 
islands, rivers, creeks, fish, fowl, deer, elk, and whatever 
else belonged to them, except the Isle of Kent and Palmer's 
Island, which were awarded to William Clayborne. It 
was, nevertheless, made lawful for either the English or 
Indians to build a house or fort for trade, or any such-like 
use, at any time on Palmer's Island. 

6. It was declared that, if any damage on either side, 
at any time, should be done by either the English or In- 
dians, or by their allies, confederates, or tributaries, repara- 
tion should be made, as in reason should be done by those 
that are friends and desire so to continue. 

7. That if any of the people or servants belonging to 
the English or to the Indians should go or run away from 
either side, they should not be concealed or kept away from 
each other, but should with all convenient speed be re- 
turned back and brought home. Satisfaction was to be 
made in a reasonable way for transportation by either land 
or water to those that brought them home. 

8. That upon any occasion of business to the English, 
it was stipulated that the Indians should come by water, 
and not by land, and that not more than eight or ten of 
them at most should come at any time. 

9. That they should bring with them the token given 
them by the English for that purpose, by which they might 



A TREATY OF PEACE. 59 

be known and entertained ; and that, also, the English on 
their part, when they sent a messenger to the Indians, should 
send by him the token which they received from them. 

10. And, lastly, it was agreed that the terms of treaty 
should really be observed, kept, and performed by the two 
nations, and by all the people belonging to them, or that 
were in amity with them, for ever to the end of the 
world . 

11. That all former injuries being buried and forgotten, 
they promised and agreed to walk together in all things 
as friends, and to assist each other accordingly. But if it 
should happen, at any time, that either of the parties 
should become weary of peace and desire war, the same 
should be made known by the one to the other. This 
was to be done by sending in and delivering up their copy 
of the treaty before any act of hostility was done or at- 
tempted, and that twenty days warning should be given 
beforehand. 

12. By thirty years this treaty with the Indians ante- 
dates that of William Penn with the Indians of Pennsyl- 
vania, under the old elm-tree on the Delaware, and the wis- 
dom and humanity displayed in its provisions have never 
been surpassed. 

13. Soon after the signing of this treaty, the Nanticoke 
Indians, on the eastern shore, began to make trouble. 
They raided upon the English settlements, and by killing 
and burning spread terror among the inhabitants. The 
governor of the province made immediate preparation to 
put an end to these outrages, but, before he was fairly 
ready to march upon the savages, hostilities ceased and 
peace was restored. For more than two years peace pre- 
vailed, agriculture flourished, and commerce brought to the 
colonists abundant supplies from the Old World. To- 
bacco was extensively planted, and, the soil and climate 
being well adapted to its growth, it became the princi- 



gO THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

pal article of export. Money being scarce in the prov- 
ince, it was also used as a currency, passing from hand to 
hand in payment of rents, taxes, salaries, and all kinds of 
common debts. 

14. Dating at Patuxent River, the 22d of July, 1654, 
Richard Bennet and William Clayborne appeared in the 
name of "his highness the lord protector of England, 
Scotland, Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belong- 
ing."' 

15. They declared that Governor Stone, by special order 
from Lord Baltimore, had violated his obligation to them 
by issuing writs in the name of " the lord proprietary of 
the province of Maryland " ; that he had imposed an oath 
upon the inhabitants contrary to their oath to the common- 
wealth of England ; and that all those who refused to sub- 
scribe to this oath within three months from the date of its 
publication should have their estates " forfeited to the use of 
the lord proprietary." 

16. They declared that this proceeding on the part of 
Governor Stone constituted rebellion against the common- 
wealth of England, and against his Highness Oliver Crom- 
well, lord protector. 

17. Clayborne and Bennet charged also that Governor 
Stone, in a proclamation, had declared that they drew away 
the people, and led them into faction, sedition, and rebellion 
against Lord Baltimore. 

18. They charged Governor Stone with saying, also, that 
the people had been put upon their own defense by the acts 
of the commissioners of Parliament, and the whole province 
was very much threatened and endangered ; consequently, 
they " applied themselves to Captain William Stone, the 
governor, and the council of Maryland, who returned only 
uncivil language, and mustered their whole power of men 
and soldiers in arms. Upon this, the commissioners, in a 
quiet and peaceable manner, with some of the people of 



OVERTHROW OF THE PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT, tfl 

Patuxent and Severn, went over the Pa'tuxent River. At 
length, they received a message from Governor Stone that 
the next day he would meet in treaty with the commission- 
ers in the woods ; and, they said, the governor, being in 
some fear of a party to come from Virginia, condescended 
to lay down his power lately assumed from Lord Baltimore. 
They declared that he submitted, as he had once done be- 
fore, to such government as the commissioners should ap- 
point under bis highness the lord protector. 

19. The above is the report of the commissioners, yet, 
in March, the last month of the year 1654, Old Style, a 
battle took place, in which Governor Stone was defeated, 
wounded, and taken prisoner. Fifty of his men were killed 
and wounded, and nearly one hundred taken prisoners. 
This battle completely overthrew the proprietary govern- 
ment of Maryland. 

20. For the administration of justice in the province, a 
commission was appointed consisting of William Fuller, 
Richard Preston, William Durand, Edward Lloyd, John 
Smith, Leonard Strong, John Lawson, John Hatch, Richard 
Wells, and Richard Ewen. 

21. Bennet and Clayborne addressed Thomas Hatton, 
Lord Baltimore's late secretary, requiring him to deliver to 
William Durand the records of the province and all papers 
concerning the same. In compliance Avith this order the 
new great seal of the province, if not previously carried 
off for the value of its silver dies, went into the custody of 
the council of the protectorate government. The records 
are almost entirely silent concerning its subsequent history. 
It is known, however, that it was never recovered. 

22. By commission from bis highness the lord pro- 
tector of the liberty of England, a general assembly of 
the freemen of the province of Maryland was held at 
Patuxent on the 20th of October, 1654. In this assembly 
Thomas Hatton and Job Chandler refused to serve, because 



62 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

such service, in their opinion, was inconsistent with the 
oath they had taken to Lord Baltimore. Arthur Turner 
and John Wade were returned to take their places. 

23 This session enacted and declared that none who 
professed and exercised the Roman Catholic religion could 
L protected in the province by the laws of England, for- 
merly established, and yet unrepealed ; nor by the govern- 
ment of the commonwealth of England. 

24 At the same session Calvert County was erected, 
but in consequence of the loss of the records of that assem- 
bly no information concerning the original boundaries of 
the' county has come down to us from that source. 

25 Although the contests between the rival powers in 
Maryland had resulted in open war, yet Lord Baltimore 
did Lt so readily give up his government Dating Juby 
10 1656, he writes to all the inhabitants and people of the 
province that, for special reasons, he had revoked all com- 
missions by him, at any time, granted to Governor So, 
or to any other persons concerning the province of Mai>- 

aD< 26 " We have thought lit," continues his lordship under 
the same date, -to nominate, constitute, and appoint Josias 
Fendall, of the province of Maryland, our lieutenant and 

chief governor." , , . 

27 On the 13th of August following the date of this 
appointment, before the news of the same could have 
reached Maryland, the provincial court, sitting in the name 
of the protector of the liberty of England, issued a proc- 
lamation concerning the newly appointed governor. 

28 The court declared that Josias Fendall, gentle- 
man, had been charged by the commons the inhabitants 
of Maryland, upon declarations exhibited m court, that 
he, contrary to his oath taken to the protectorate gov- 
ernment, had openly acted to the disturbance of the pub- 
lic peace. For this end, he assumed a pretended powei 



THE GOVERNOR'S DECISION. 



67 



dissent ; but he did believe that the intent of the king in 
his lordship's patent was that the freemen, by writ as- 
sembled, either by themselves or their deputies, should 
make and enact laws, and those laws so made were to 
be published in his lordship's name, and then to be in full 
force. 



CHAPTER IX. 
1659-1684. 

The Legislature of 1659.-Fendall's Eebellion against Lord Baltimore-Gov- 
ernor Calvert.— The Choptank Indians.— Death of Ceeilius, Lord Balti- 
more.— Charles, Lord Baltimore.— Council of Deputies. 

1. In the afternoon session of the legislature, held at 
the house of Robert Slye on the 13th of March, 1659, the 
speaker of the lower hoii^e came and said that the lower 
could not allow the upper house to sit as such ; but, if the 
governor and council pleased, they might come and take 
place, in behalf of his lordship and themselves, as a part of 
the lower house. The governor and council, sitting as an 
upper house, informed him that, in such a case, the speaker 
must leave his place to the governor, who then would be 
president of the assembly. Upon this, the speaker and the 
lower house took time to consider. 

•>. On the 14th of March, the lower house demanded a 
further conference, and, being met, the speaker declared 
that they were content the governor should sit as president, 
but they would continue their speaker in the house also, 
and reserve to themselves the power of adjourning and dis- 
solving the assembly. Upon debate, the governor being 
willing to consent to these terms, he, with his two confeder- 
ates, Thomas Gerrard and Colonel Utye, took their seats in 

the lower house. 

3. The upper house being dissolved, Governor Fendall 
gave up the remaining powers of government given to him 
by Lord Baltimore's commission into the hands of the pro- 



FENDALL'S REBELLION AGAINST LORD BALTIMORE. <;,) 

vincial delegates, and, in order to abolish his lordship's do- 
minion over the province, he accepted from them a com- 
mission as governor. 

4. Colonel Utye, Thomas Gerrard, and the speaker of the 
house, Robert Slye, acted as the governor's council, and he 
gave his assent to several laws which were passed, amono- 
which was one against any disturbance in their newly or- 
ganized government. This law made it felony for any per- 
son to disturb the government of Maryland which they had 
thought fit to establish. Among other acts which they 
passed, was one commanding all persons to own no authority 
save that which came from the king of England or the 
"grand assembly" of the province of Maryland. 

5. These men sheltered their rebellion against Lord Bal- 
timore under the name of the king about to ascend the 
throne of England, expecting thereby to overthrow all pro- 
prietary government in the province. 

6. From the time of the beginning of the Puritan revo- 
lution in England to the time of the end of Fendall's rebel- 
lion in Maryland, ten years went by in which Lord Baltimore 
was almost entirely deprived of his government. 

7. On the 8th of May, 1600, the Puritan government of 
England gave way to the restored government of the Stu- 
arts, and Charles II. was proclaimed king at Whitehall, 
where his royal father, grantor of the charter of Maryland, 
met his death at the hands of the executioner. 

8. On the 24th of June, in the same year, Lord Balti- 
more appointed his brother, Philip Calvert, governor of 
Maryland. He was sworn in at the provincial court, held 
at Patuxent, on the 11th of December following ; and Fen- 
dall's rebellion was at an end. Fendall and certain mem- 
bers of his council surrendered themselves to the new gov- 
ernor, were indicted by a grand jury, tried, and found 
guilty. They were sentenced to banishment from the prov- 
ince, and confiscation of their estates, real and personal. 



jq THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

9. Upon their petition, however, to the governor and 
council, their sentence was commuted to a fine. They were 
also debarred from holding any office in the province in 
future, from being elected to any future assembly, and 
required to give security for their good behavior toward 
Lord Baltimore and his government, Their respective par- 
dons, under the new great seal of the province brought 
over from Lord Baltimore in 1658, by Fendall, are dated 
the 28th of February, 1660, next to the last month of the 
Julian year. It will be seen that the great seal generally 
called Fendall's seal sealed his own pardon. 

10. Governor Calvert, through the hands of Lord Balti- 
more, received a letter from the king of England, dated 
July 3, 1660, commanding all magistrates and officers, and 
" all other his subjects," to aid and assist in the reestablish- 
ment of Lord Baltimore's right and jurisdiction within the 
province of Maryland. 

11. The first legislature which held a session under Gov- 
ernor Calvert's administration met at St. John's, in St. 
Mary's County, on the 17th of April, and ended on the 1st 
of May, 1661. At this session an act was passed " concern- 
ing the setting up of a mint within the province of Mary- 
land." The freemen set forth in the preamble that the 
want of money was a great hindrance to the advancement 
of the colony, and prayed that Lord Baltimore would take 
order for setting up a mint for the " coining of money 
within the province." The money coined therein. was to 
be of as good silver as English sterling money. In compli- 
ance with the act, the mint was established. It turned out 
beautiful pieces of money called shillings, each piece weigh- 
ing "above nine pence in silver." These shillings were 
made a legal tender in payment of rents and other debts 
due to Lord Baltimore, and, in order to put the money in 
circulation, the law declared that every inhabitant should 
take some of it in exchange for tobacco at two pence a 



GOVERNOR CALVERT'S ADMINISTRATION. *-i 

pound. At this time there were twelve thousand inhab- 
itants in the province, and prosperity smiled upon Governor 
Calvert's administration. The people proclaimed Charles 
II. king, of whom the Earl of Halifax said : "He ruled as 
meekly as his father died." 

12. In 1660 the province of Maryland was just enter 
mg upon a period of thirty years of peace and prosperity 
Down to this time Leonard Calvert, Thomas Greene Wil- 
liam Stone, Josias Fendall, and Philip Calvert had' filled 
the governor's chair in the province. In 1602, Hon Charles 
Calvert took the chair. He called a legislative assemblv 
which met at St. Mary's on the 1st and ended on the 12th 
of April. At this session, it was enacted that, in all cases 
in which the law of the province was silent, justice should 
be administered according to the laws of England, if pro- 
duced and pleaded. An act was also passed for the publi- 
cation of marriages, and for imposing a "fee upon them 
who shall be married." 

13. Another legislative assembly met at St. Mary's on 
the loth of September, 1663, "in the thirty-second year of 
the dominion of the Right Honorable Cecilius, absolute 
lord and proprietary of the Provinces of Maryland and 
Avalon. In an act of this assembly negro slavery is men- 
tioned for the first time, and we find an act for erecting a 
pillory, stocks, and ducking-stools in every county in the 
province. This latter act was repealed in 1676. 

14. Under the administration of Governor Calvert set- 
tlements were rapidly made along the Potomac, Patuxent, 
and Severn Rivers, extending also along the Patapsco as 
tar up as Elk Ridge, and crossing into Baltimore County 
Land in abundance was almost entirely given to actual set- 
tlers at the rate of fifty acres to every person in a family 
At this time the history of Maryland was not much more 
than the history of a great land market, in which many of 
the nations of the earth were represented. 



fro THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

15. Years of peace and prosperity glided along smooth- 
ly ; religions freedom prevailed ; and the Indians in great 
numbers embraced Christianity. 

16. In 1669 an act for the continuation of peace with 
the Choptank Indians was passed by the legislature, and 
to provide for their protection as the " neighbors and con- 
federates " of the white settlers in Maryland. The act, on 
account of the fidelity of this tribe in delivering up some 
murderers, settled upon them and their heirs for ever all 
the lands on the south side of the Choptank River, " on the 
eastern shore of Maryland, bounded on the west by the 
freehold of William Darrington, and on the east by Secre- 
tary Sewell's creek for breadth, and for length three miles 
into the woods." This large tract of land was given away 
to the Indians by the direction and consent of Lord Balti- 
more, under the yearly rent only of six beaver skins. 

17. In 1671 it was made known to the legislature that 
there never had been any settled course in the province for 
conveying lands from man to man, and that the titles of 
many persons to lands which they bought and paid for had 
become doubtful. Lawsuits had arisen, to the great loss and 
annoyance of the people. It was therefore enacted that 
all sales, sifts, or grants previously made by writings of any 
kind, with or without a seal, should be accounted good and 
available in law. As small as this matter appeared, it 
brought about much peace and harmony among the inhab- 
itants ; old feuds were forgotten, and many old- scores 
erased and forgiven. 

18. In this year the legislature passed bills for the nat- 
uralization of foreigners, and numbers of them were made 
citizens and voters in the province. A duty of two shil- 
lings per hogshead was made payable by the masters of 
ships on all tobacco shipped from the ports of Maryland. 
On the first arrival of ships, and before taking any tobacco 
on board, the masters were required to give security tor the 



DEATH OF CECILIUS, LORD BALTIMORE. 73 

payment of the duty imposed, on penalty of the forfeiture 
of all tobacco attempted to be shipped. 

19. In 1674 an act was passed declaring that all deeds 
or instruments of writing, having for their objects the con- 
veyance of lands by sale or otherwise from one party to 
another, should be indented and sealed, and acknowledged 
in the provincial court of the province, before two of the 
privy council of the same, in the county court, or before 
two justices of the peace. 

20. Whenever a married woman was a party to the con- 
veyance of land, the officer taking her acknowledgment 
was required to examine her " out of the hearing of her 
husband," as to whether she made such acknowledgment - 
willingly and freely, and without being induced thereto by 
any force or threats used by her husband or through fear 
of his displeasure. This wise provision of law afforded a 
precedent which was strictly observed in the conveyance of 
lands in Maryland for two hundred years. 

21. On the 30th of November, 1675, the Right Honora- 
ble Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, died, in the 
forty-fourth year of his dominion over the province of 
Maryland. It is not known when or where he was born. 

22. John Calvert, son of Cecilius, was third Lord Balti- 
more, yet it does not appear that he succeeded his father 
as lord proprietary of the provinces of Maryland and 
Avalon. 

23. Hon. Charles Calvert, who first appeared as governor 
at the April session of the legislature in 1662, was the son 
and heir of the estates of Cecilius, and was made Lord Bal- 
timore on the death of his father in 1675. He was the 
fourth in the line of Lords Baltimore, and for a short time 
ruled the province in person without a governor under him. 
He first appeared as Lord Proprietary in the legislature 
held at the city of St. Mary's from the 15th of May to 
the 15th of June, 1676. In 1678 he appointed Thomas 

4 



^ THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Notley governor, and Philip Calvert, former governor, was 
made his lordship's judge " in testamentary causes." 

24. In 1681 his lordship again assumed the government 
of the province in person, and presided over all the sessions 
of the legislature convened in the province from that year 
to the end of the vear 1684. During his administration 
commerce was active and profitable ; tobacco was raised 
and exported in great abundance ; money was in plenty, 
ships in demand, and wealth was pouring in upon the 

people. 

25. In 1684, Lord Baltimore appointed a council of clep- 
uties to carry on the government of Maryland, and set sail 
for England. Of this council William Joseph was presi- 
dent, and they ruled the province under the nominal gov- 
ernorship of Benedict Leonard Calvert, infant son of the 
lord proprietary. 



CHAPTER X. 

1684-1696. 

Charles II. King of England.— The Duke of York.— Protestant Revolution-— 
William and Mary, King and Queen.— Convention of Protestants.— City 
of St. Mary's.— Royal Government in Maryland.— Governor Copley.— 
Death of Queen Mary.— St. Mary's County. 

1. Ox the 6th of February, 1684, Julian time, King 
Charles II. died. He was succeeded by his brother, the 
Duke of York, who was crowned king of England under 
the title of James II. In the time of the reign of this king, 
a writ was issued requiring Lord Baltimore to show cause 
why the charter of Maryland should not be forfeited ; but 
before a trial under the writ could be reached, the king was 
dethroned by the Protestant revolution, generally called 
the revolution of 1688. 

2. The people of England having called William, Prince 
of Orange, and Mary his wife, to the throne, they were 
crowned King and Queen of England on the 11th of April, 
1689, by the name of William and Mary. 

3. On the 23d of August in this year a convention of 
Protestants met at St. Mary's, in the province of Maryland, 
by virtue of letters " from the several commanders, officers, 
and gentlemen associated in arms, for the defense of the 
Protestant religion," and asserted the right and title of 
their present majesties, King William and Queen Mary, to 
the province of Maryland. This convention elected a 
speaker, and proceeded to business. It was voted that the 
temporary laws of the province of Maryland should "stand 



76 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

and continue revived for three years from their commence- 
ment." The convention adjourned, to meet on the 29th of 
September, 1690 ; and, coming together on that day, it 
passed an order prohibiting the exportation from the prov- 
ince of any Indian corn until the 10th of July following. 

4. The government of Lord Baltimore was again at an 
end in Maryland. The royal government claimed the right 
to issue warrants for lands to actual settlers upon it. For 
these warrants certain fees were received. The agents of 
Lord Baltimore refused to issue patents for such lands 
under the great seal of the province, unless the fees were 
paid to the land officers under his direction. The royal 
government would not yield its point, and the consequence 
was that Lord Baltimore annulled his conditions of planta- 
tion. The provincial land office was therefore closed, and 
settlers on the lands of Maryland came in slowly. 

5. To settle the difficulty, King William wrote to Gov- 
ernor Copley, dating "Whitehall, the 12th of November, 
1691." 

6. " Trusty and well-beloved," writes the king, " we 
greet you well. Whereas our right trusty and well-beloved 
Charles, Lord Baltimore has, by his humble petition, pre- 
sented unto us, that he has not received any benefit of our 
royal letter of the 1st of February, 1689, nor of an order 
of council of the 26th of February, 1690, both which 
gave him liberty by his agents in Maryland to collect his 
revenues and duties there ; that he is informed from his 
agents there, that, by reason of their long confinements there 
and other hardships in that province, they were rendered 
altogether incapable of acting for him, whereby he has 
received no returns from thence this last shipping. We. 
have thought fit upon consideration thereof, and at the 
humble request of the said Charles, Lord Baltimore, hereby 
to signify our will and pleasure to you, that you do take 
care, and give strict orders, as there shall be occasion, that 



GOVERNOR COPLEY. 77 

Henry Darnall, Gent, who for several years has been the 
petitioner's agent and receiver in Maryland, as also such 
person or persons as the said Henry Darnall shall appoint, 
be permitted to live peaceably and quietly, and to act as 
formerly in receiving the said Charles, Lord Baltimore's 
dues and revenues in that province ; and our further pleas- 
ure is that no ships o" vessels be cleared in Maryland before 
the said. Lord Baltimore's agent and receiver-general shall 
have received his dues from the shipping there ; they be- 
having themselves peaceably, and with due submission to 
our government. And for so doing this shall be your war- 
rant, and so we bid you farewell." 

7. The convention associated in arms for the defense of 
the Protestant religion, being in session on the 9th of April, 
1692, Sir Lionel Copley produced and caused to be read a 
commission appointing him governor of Maryland. He 
immediately called an assembly of the freemen of the prov- 
ince, which met at St. Mary's on the 10th of May and 
ended on the 9th of June. 

8. At this session an act was passed declaring that the 
Church of England, within the province, should have and 
enjoy all her rights, liberties, and franchises wholly inviola- 
ble, as established by law ; that Sabbath-breaking should 
be punished by a fine of one hundred pounds of tobacco for 
the use of the poor ; and that selling liquors on the Lord's 
day, or permitting tippling, drunkenness, or gaming, should 
be punished by a fine of two thousand pounds of tobacco. 

9. On the 23d of February, 1692, a court was held at 
Whitehall, England, at which "the king's most excellent 
majesty " was present, together with " the lords of the com- 
mittee of trade and plantations." Sir Thomas Trevor, the 
king's solicitor-general, reported to the court that he found 
by an act of the assembly of Maryland, passed in 1661, that 
all ships or vessels not properly belonging to the province, 
but trading therein, should pay for port duties a pound of 



78 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

powder and three pounds of shot, or so much in value, for 
every ton burden to Lord Baltimore and his heirs. These 
duties, said the solicitor, had been turned into money at the 
rate of fourteen pence per ton, and applied to the use of 
Lord Baltimore, and not to the use of the government. 

10. "I conceive," said he, "by the words of the act, 
this duty belongs to Lord Baltimore, to be received by him 
and applied to his own use ; and it would be a thing of 
dangerous consequence to admit parole proof of an inten- 
tion in the lawmakers, different from the words of the law, 
by saying that the duty which the act calls 'A.port duty was 
intended to be a fort duty.'''' 

11. The provincial legislature of 1692 passed an act 
imposing a tax of fourpence per gallon on liquors imported 
into the province, which was to be used in paying the sala- 
ries of councilors of state, justices of courts, and in repair- 
ing court-houses and jails. This act continued in force for 
three years from the date of its approval. 

12. In 1693, Sir Lionel Copley, first royal governor of 
Maryland, died, and Sir Francis Nicholson was appointed 
to fill the vacancy. He called a session of the provincial 
legislature, which came together at St. Mary's on the 21st 
of September, 1694. 

13. At this session an act was passed "for the en- 
couragement of learning, and the advancement of the na- 
tives of the province ; " and also an act prohibiting masters 
of ships or vessels, or any other persons, from conveying 
or transporting any person or persons out of the province 
without passes. 

14. On the 18th of October in this year the assembly 
passed an act confirming all proceedings, judicial, military, 
and civil, from the death of " his Excellency Lionel Cop- 
ley," late governor and captain-general of Maryland, until 
the arrival of " his Excellency Francis Nicholson " in the 
province. 



DEATH OF QUEEX MARY. 79 

15. At this session a law was made for erecting " Ann 
Arundel and Oxford towns" into ports and towns. The 
land called the town land at Providence on the Severn 
River, and the land at Oxford in Talbot County, were made 
ports of entry where all ships and vessels might come for 
entering and clearing. 

16. It was ordered that one hundred acres of land should 
be laid out at each port, and marked, staked out, or divided 
into streets, lanes, and alleys, with open spare places left, on 
which might be erected a church, chapel, market-house, or 
other public building. The law provided that a jury of 
freeholders should be impaneled to ascertain the real value 
of the land and pay the owners for the same. Purchasers 
of lots in these towns were granted in them a perpetual in- 
heritance, as well as their heirs and assigns for ever ; and 
the deeds given to purchasers were made good " even 
against Charles, Lord Baron of Baltimore, and his heirs and 
successors." The lots consisted of one acre of ground, and 
were held at an annual rent of one penny per acre, payable 
to Lord Baltimore and his successors in the line of barons. 

IT. The legislature of 1694 imposed a tax of fourpence 
per gallon on liquors imported into the province, which was 
to be used for building and repairing court-houses, free 
schools, and bridewells. Another law forbade the carrying 
of liquor to the Indian towns and cabins ; and at this ses- 
sion steps were taken toward the erection of a court-house 
in " Ann Arundel town," now Annapolis. A supplicatory 
act to the king and queen of England was also passed, pray- 
ing for the erection of free schools in the province, and 
another act for the encouragement of such persons as might 
build water mills. 

18. On the 28th of December, 1694, Queen Mary died 
in England, and the province of Maryland passed under the 
government of her husband, who reigned alone as King 
William III. 




80 



THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



19. On the 22d of May, 1695, an act was passed, repeal- 
ing the acts of 1692 and 1694, which established the Prot- 
estant religion in Maryland. In the same year it was 
enacted " that the two ports of Ann Arundel and Oxford 
should be called and known by the names of Annapolis and 

WiUicnnstadt. n 

20. At the May session of the legislature in 1695, it was 
enacted that, from and after the 23d of April, 1696, the 
bounds of St. Mary's County should begin at Point Look- 
out, and extend up Potomac River to the lower side of 
Budd's Creek, and over, by a straight line drawn from the 
head of the main branch of said creek, to the head of Indian 
Creek in Patuxent River ; including all that land lying be- 
tween Patuxent and Potomac Rivers, from the lower part 
of the said two creeks and branches of Budd's and Indian 
Creeks, by the line aforesaid and Point Lookout. Upon 
the upper side of Indian Creek and Budd's Creek, the bounds 
of Charles County should begin, where the upper bounds of 
St. Mary's end, and extend upward as far as Matta woman 
Creek and branch, and bounding on the said branch by a 
straight line drawn from the head thereof to the head of 
Swanson's Creek in Patuxent River. These boundaries in- 
cluded all that land lying on the upper part of Budd's 
Creek and Indian Creek branches, where St. Mary's County 
ends, to the lower side of Mattawoman Creek and branch, 
and Swanson's Creek and branch, between Patuxent and 
Potomac Rivers. 

21. The land from the upper side of Mattawoman and 
Swanson's Creek and branches, extending upward, bounded 
by Potomac on the west, and Patuxent River on the east, 
was erected into a county called Prince George's County, 
which should, after the 23d of April, 1696, being St. George's 
day, enjoy all rights and benefits equal with the other coun- 
ties of the province. 

22. In 1696 the island of Kent was added to, and made 



KENT COUNTY. 



81 



a part of, Talbot County. The part of this county lying 
on the north side of Corsica Creek, running up the main 
eastern branch of the same, and then with a course drawn 
east to the outside of the province, was to be the southern 
boundary of Kent County ; the boundary of Cecil County 
being the boundary of Kent on the north. 



CHAPTER XL 

1696-1704. 

Provincial Schools. — Governor Nicholson. — Annapolis incorporated. — The 
State-house. — " Fountain of Healing Waters." — Rolling Roads. — The 
Indians. — Death of King William. — " Toleration and Ease." — State-house 
burnt. 

1. At a session of the general assembly of Maryland, 
held at the port of Annapolis on the 1st of July, 1696, an 
act was passed petitioning the king of England to establish 
a school in the province, which should be free, and in which 
" Latin, Greek, writing, and the like, should be taught and 
studied." 

2. " From the sincerity of our humble and loyal hearts," 
reads the preamble to the act, " we offer to your sacred per- 
son our most dutiful and sincere thanks for your royal care 
and protection to us ; for your majesty's princely zeal and 
pious care of our mother, the Church of England, and for 
extending your royal benediction to our neighboring col- 
ony, your majesty's subjects and territory of Virginia in 
your gracious grant and charter for the college or place of 
study in that colony. 

3. "In humble contemplation whereof, and being ex- 
cited by his present excellency, Francis Nicholson, Esquire, 
your majesty's governor of this your province, his zeal for 
your majesty's service, pious endeavors, and generous offers 
for the propagation of Christianity and good learning, 
herein we become humble suitors to your most sacred ma- 
jesty to extend your royal grace and favor to your ma- 



GOVERNOR NICHOLSON. §3 

jesty's subjects of this province, represented in this your 
majesty's assembly." 

4. The act was passed and approved by King William. 
It was intended for the spread of the gospel, and the edu- 
cation of the youth of Maryland in " good letters and man- 
ners." It provided for schools in all the counties, each to 
accommodate one hundred scholars, more or less, with one 
master, one usher, and one writing-master, or scribe, to each 
school. It was prayed that the Lord Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, England, might be made chancellor of the schools, 
and Governor Nicholson president of a board of trustees. 
One of the schools was to be located at Annapolis, and 
others at such places as the general assembly of the pro- 
vince might think convenient to be supported and main- 
tained " in all time coming." 

5. It was enacted that one hundred and twenty pounds 
sterling, or about six hundred dollars, should be annually 
appropriated out of the public funds of the province for 
the payment of the salaries of the master, usher, and scribe 
of each school, and for keeping the buildings in repair. The 
buildings themselves were to be erected at the public ex- 
pense, and the board of managers incorporated in the name 
of the " rectors, governors, trustees, and visitors of the free 
schools of Maryland." The board Avas to consist of eighteen 
men, and never more than twenty, and each man was to be 
sworn into office. The law provided a seal for the 
corporation, which the governors and visitors had leave 
to break, change, and renew from time to time at their 
pleasure. 

6. The first school was to be built at Annapolis, the 
second at Oxford, or Williamsfadt, and, after building and' 
furnishing the second house, the trustees were required to 
build others as fast as they were enabled. King William's 
school at Annapolis was built, furnished, and put in opera- 
tion, partly by the public funds and partly by donations ; 



g£ THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

but after this we hear of no more activity on the subject 
for a number of years. 

7. At the September session of the legislature of 1696 
an act was passed incorporating the city of Annapolis. The 
body corporate consisted of Governor Nicholson, Thomas 
Lawrence, Nicholas Greenberry, Thomas Tench, John Ham- 
mond, Edward Dorsey, James Saunders, and Richard Hill, 
or any five of them, to act in the name of the trustees of 
the port and town of Annapolis. 

8. The most remarkable roads or highways in the prov- 
ince of Maryland were known by the name of "rolling 
roads." They were made by cutting down the timber, 
grubbing up the roots of the trees, and grading the ground 
to a level, if possible. The surface of the road was made 
hard and smooth, so that barrels, hogsheads, logs, and even 
houses on rollers, could be conveniently rolled over them. 

9. In 1696 Governor Nicholson caused four rolling roads 
to be marked and cleared "for the rolling of tobacco or 
goods by land." One was laid out between Patuxent River 
and South River, beginning at a great branch called Sock- 
et's Run, and running thence northeast by east live mdes, 
six furlongs, and sixteen poles, to a creek in South River 
called Beard's Creek. , ? 

10. Another began in a cove of a creek called Baldwin s 
Creek and ran thence northeast one mile, one furlong^to 
the head of Ship Creek. Another began at Severn River 
below Eagle Nest Bay, and ran to the northward of the 
northeast one mile, one furlong, and twenty-five poles, to a 
creek in Magothy River called Clark's Creek. 

11 The fourth road began at the Magothy River side 
above the mouth of a cove called Wood's Pastime Cove 
and ran thence east-northeast one mile, six furlongs, and 
thirty poles, to a creek in Patapsco River called Rock 

Creek. 

12! These roads were made legal by an act of the legis- 



THE STATE-HOUSE. g- 

lature ; and it was made lawful that they should be kept 
cleared and grubbed as other public roads, and that the 
trustees of the county in which such roads were located 
should purchase at the public expense one acre of land at 
each end of every road, on which warehouses should be 
erected for the storage of goods. These roads were mostly 
used for rolling tobacco, packed in hogsheads or casks, to 
market at the shipping ports in the province. 

13. The act to incorporate the town of Annapolis pro- 
vided for the holding of fairs and markets in the town, 
and that all persons attending them should not be subject 
to arrest thereat, except in cases of treason, murder, or 
felony. 

14. In 1(39? the state-house in Annapolis was finished, 
and the rooms therein were fitted up with "boxes, shelves^ 
desks and tables to write on " ; and at the door of every 
office in the building a bar was made, within which no per- 
son was allowed to come but the clerk of such office, unless 
upon very urgent occasion. 

15. In 1698 the boundary line between Baltimore and 
Anne Arundel Counties was determined and fixed. It be- 
gan at three marked trees, a white oak, a red oak, and a 
chestnut, standing about a mile and a quarter to the south- 
ward of Bodkin Creek, on the west side of the Chesapeake 
Bay. The red oak on the right hand was marked for Bal- 
timore County ; the chestnut on the left hand for Anne 
Arundel County; and the Avhiteoak stood between them near 
a marsh or pond. 

16. From these the line dividing the counties ran west un- 
til it crossed the road from " the mountains " of the mouth 
of Magothy River to Richard Beard's mill. Thence continu- 
ing westward with the said road to William Hawkins's path, 
to two marked trees, one for Anne Arundel County and the 
other for Baltimore County. Thence running along the 
said road to John Locket's path to two trees ; then leaving 



86 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

the road by a line drawn west to William Slade's path to 
two marked trees. Thence running west between the 
drafts of Magothy and Patapsco Rivers, until it came to a 
mountain of white stone rock, and still running west to a 
road going to Patapsco, to two marked trees at Peter 
Bond's. 

17. From the latter place the line ran west to the main 
road leading to Patapsco ferry to two marked pine-trees 
standing near the Ready Branch, on the north side of 
which was written at large, "Baltimore County," and on 
the south side, " Anne Arundell County." Prom this point 
the line ran about northwest to Elk Ridge road, to two 
marked trees, and thence by the same course to Patuxent 
River. Up and along the river it ran to the source or 
fountain, for Baltimore County. All the land on the north 
side of this line was Baltimore County, and all on the south 
side to the ancient extent of Anne Arundel was Anne Arun- 
del County. 

18. In 1698 an act was passed to empower certain trus- 
tees to purchase lands adjoining " The Fountains of Heal- 
ing Waters, called the Cool Springs," in St. Mary's County, 
for building houses for such poor and impotent persons as 
should repair to the springs for cure. The act was par- 
tially carried into effect, and Governor Nicholson caused 
Episcopal service to be held there every week and Bibles 
and prayer-books to be given to the poor. The place is 
now known as Charlotte Hall. 

19. In 1698 Governor Nicholson was appointed gov- 
ernor of Virginia, and Nathaniel Blackiston, Esquire, took 
the governor's chair in Maryland. 

20. A mail route, connecting Williamsburg and Phila- 
delphia, was opened through Maryland in 1695 and 1696 by 
way of Annapolis, Kent Island, Oxford, and Newcastle, 
Delaware. 

21. On the 28th of June, 1699, Governor Blackiston met 



INCREASE OF POPULATION. S7 

the legislature of the province at Annapolis, and an act 
was passed providing for "the more speedy conveyance of 
the public letters and packets ; for marking highways, and 
making the heads of rivers, creeks, branches, and swamps 
passable for horse and foot." 

22. In this year Annapolis was made, by law, the chief 
place and seat of justice within the province for holding 
assemblies and provincial courts, and, in the same year, the 
state-house was struck by lightning, and the roof set on fire. 
The legislature being in session at the time, several of the 
delegates were struck down, and one of them was killed. 

23. In the year 1700 Maryland had made sixty -six years 
of history. She had gone through two remarkable rebel- 
lions against the rightful authority of Lord Baltimore and 
two none the less remarkable revolutions. It is true that 
in this year his lordship's prospects were still shadowed by 
uncertain clouds, yet settlers of a good class were still pour- 
ing into the province ; the naturalization of foreigners went 
freely on ; and great and good men, born on the soil, had 
grown up to lead, direct, and govern. 

24. Since 1670 her population had increased from twenty 
thousand to forty thousand, and the wisdom and virtue of 
her people were subjects of general notice. Her three royal 
governors, who had held office since 1692, were Christian 
gentlemen, able rulers, and hard workers in the cause of 
human progi'ess. They encouraged professors of religion ; 
opened rolling roads to help the poor farmer bring his prod- 
uce to market, stage and wagon roads for the public con- 
venience, and mail routes over which the stage and the post 
rider rapidly conveyed the news from friend to friend. 

25. In 1700 the Indians were quiet and peaceful, giving 
the settlers no trouble, save for encroachments now and 
then made upon their hunting-grounds. It was thought 
necessary, however, to pass a law for quieting differences 
that might arise "between his majesty's subjects in the 



88 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

province and the several nations of Indians of what places 
soever." This was accordingly done at the session of the 
legislature begun at Annapolis on the 26th of April, 1700 ; 
and another act was passed at the same session, "for the 
security of the frontier plantations against the incursions 
and violence of Indians." 

26. The first legislature of 1701 met on the 8th and ad- 
journed on the 17th of May. It passed an act for speedily 
obtaining execution against persons flying out of the coun- 
try where judgment was given against them, and another 
for the naturalization of foreigners. On the 16th of March, 
1701, the last month in the Julian year, another session was 
begun, and ended on the 25th of the same month, being New 
Year's day, 1702. 

27. In the preamble to an act passed at this session, it 
was declared that in well-grounded commonwealths matters 
concerning religion ought to be taken into consideration. 
By this act, faithful and able ministers were invited to 
come into Maryland, and the people were taxed to the 
amount of forty pounds of tobacco per year on each free- 
man for their support. It was enacted that no minister, 
priest, or magistrate should join together in marriage any 
persons contrary to the " Table of Marriages " «known to the 
Church of England. A violation of this law by any such 
minister, priest, or magistrate was made punishable by a fine 
of five thousand pounds of tobacco. 

28. In a parish where a minister or priest resided, it was 
made unlawful for anyjustice of the peace or other lay- 
man to perform the marriage ceremony ; and a violation of 
the law was made punishable by a fine of five thousand 
pounds of tobacco for the use of the king of England. 

29. On the 8th of March, 1702, William III., king of 
England, died at Kensington Palace, in the fifty-second 
year of his age and" the fourteenth of his reign. Anne 
Stuart, second daughter of King James II., took the crown 



"TOLERATION AND EASE." 89 

of England by the name of Queen Anne, and the govern- 
ment of Maryland passed under her rule. 

30. In this year the legislature of the province granted 
" toleration and ease " to all Protestant dissenters from the 
Church of England, and liberty to the people called Quakers 
to make solemn affirmation instead of an oath in delivering 

o 

testimony in courts of justice. 

31. The legislature of 1703 opened on the 26th and 
closed on the 29th of October. Thomas Tench occupied 
the governor's chair as president. At this session no busi- 
ness worthy of mention here was done beyond an act to 
revive certain laws and make assessments for the year. 

32. At the session which met on the 26th of April, and 
ended on the 3d of May, 1704, John Seymour appeared 
and took his seat as governor of Maryland. 

33. In this year daily experience showed, and the people 
of the province were made sensible of the fact, that for the 
want of water mills tillage of the ground was neglected. 
It was seen that certain persons who owned land upon 
which there were good mill sites either refused to sell it to 
a person who would build a mill, or build one himself ; or 
that the site might be in the hands of a person under age, 
or owned by some one unable to bear the charges for build- 
ing a mill. 

34. A law was, therefore, passed to condemn lands for 
building mills, and pay for them out of the provincial treas- 
ury, in case the owners of good mill sites refused to build a 
mill thereon in one year from the date of the law. 

35. For the prevention of abuses frequently committed 
by persons keeping water mills, it was enacted that no mas- 
ter, owner, miller, or other person belonging to or owning 
a mill in the province, should ask or receive for grinding a 
bushel of corn more than one-sixth part of the same, nor 
more than one-eighth part of a bushel of wheat, upon pen- 
alty or forfeiture of one thousand pounds of iobacco. 



90 



THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



36. It was further enacted that all roads leading to 
Annapolis should be marked on trees with the letters AA, 
done with marking irons and colored ; the roads that led 
to the port of Williamstadt on the eastern shore, by a 
smooth place cut on the face of trees on which was marked 
the letter W. Roads that led to court-houses were marked 
by two notches on trees on both sides of the road, and 




STATE-HOUSE, ANNAPOLIS. 



roads leading to churches were marked by a slip cut down 
the face of a tree, near the ground. 



STATE-HOUSE BURNT. 01 

37. As often as necessary, dead trees were required to be 
cut down on each side of public roads, that limbs hanging 
overhead might not fall and injure travelers. At the ses- 
sion of 1704 an enlightened policy prevailed, and a great 
number of acts, similar to those already mentioned, were 
passed for the benefit of the people at large, and not for the 
politicians ; and the people themselves were builders, plant- 
ing broad and firm foundations, not for their days alone, 
but for future generations. 

38. In 1704 the state-house at Annapolis was consumed 
by fire, together with most of the records of Anne Arundel 
County. In the same year an act was passed to rebuild it 
of brick, and it was finished in 1706. While building, the 
legislature held its sessions in the house of Colonel Edward 
Dorsey. 



CHAPTER XII. 

1704-1710. 

Conspiracy against the Government of Maryland. — Counties erected. — Joppa, 
in Baltimore County. — The Nanticoke Indians. — Tobacco a Currency. — 
Death of Charles Lord Baltimore. — Governor Hart. 

1. The legislature of 1705 met at Annapolis on the 
15th, and ended on the 25th of May. At this session it 
was made known that a conspiracy had been formed to 
seize the provincial magazine of arms and ammunition, as 
well as the person of Governor Seymour, overthrow the 
government of Queen Anne in Maryland, and bring the 
" heathen Indians," with the conspirators, to cut off the in- 
habitants of the province. An act of outlawry was passed 
against the chief conspirator, which was to be enforced un- 
less he surrendered himself within twenty days. He failed 
to do so, and the act remained in full force against him. 
Maryland narrowly escaped another rebellion. 

2. In 1706 the boundaries of Talbot County were de- 
scribed and settled. From and after the 1st of May, 1707, 
the bounds were to include Sharp's Island, Choptank Island, 
and all the land on the north side of Great Choptank River, 
and extend itself up the river to Tuckahoe Bridge. From 
thence with a straight line to Swetnam's mill, and from 
thence, down the south side of Wye River, to the mouth 
thereof ; from thence down the bay to the first beginning, 
including Poplar and Bruff's Islands. 

3. In 1706 the county of Queen Anne's was described and 
named after Anne, Queen of England. During the reign 



COUNTIES ERECTED. 93 

of this queen England and Scotland were united by an act 
of Parliament under the name of Great Britain. She was, 
therefore, generally called the Queen of Great Britain. 

4. From and after the 1st day of May, 1707, Queen 
Anne's County in Maryland was to be within the bounds in- 
cluding Kent Island, and all the land on the south side of 
Chester River to Se well's branch, and with the said branch, 
to its head. From thence with an east line to the extent of 
the province, and bounded on the south by Talbot County 
to Tuckahoe Bridge. From thence with Tuckahoe Creek 
and Choptank River to the mouth of a branch falling into 
that river, called White Marsh branch, and thence with a 
northeast line to the extent of the province. 

5. The bounds of Kent County were described in the 
same year. They began at the south point of Eastern Neck, 
and ran up the bay to Sassafras River, thence up this river 
to the south end of " Long Horse Bridge," and thence by a 
southeastern line "to the exterior bounds of the province." 
Thence with the said bounds until they intersected the line 
of Queen Anne's County, and with the said county down 
Chester River to Eastern Neck, where they first began. 

6. At the session of 1700, it was also enacted that Cecil 
County should contain all the land on the north side of Sas- 
safras River and Kent County, and be bounded on the east 
and north by the exterior bounds of the province ; on the 
west by the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay, and 
on the south by Sassafras River and Kent County. 

7. Commissioners were appointed to cause the bounds 
of these counties to be surveyed and marked by double lines 
of marked trees, and they were directed to lay out and pur- 
chase, at the valuation of a jury, two aci-es of land in each 
county whereon to build court-houses. 

8. In 170G an old act of Parliament passed in the reign 
of King James I. was revived by the Maryland legislature 
and recorded among the laws of the province. Its title was, 



94 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

" An act to restrain all persons from marriage until their 
former wives and former husbands he dead." 

9. In this year hemp of the growth of the province was 
made a currency, to circulate at the rate of sixpence per 
pound, and flax at ninepence, in the payment of the one- 
fourth part of any debt ; and creditors refusing such a cur- 
rency, and afterward suing for the amount of the debt, 
were to be non-suited, and thrown into the cost of the pro- 
ceedings. 

10. At the meeting of the legislature in 1707, there were 
twelve counties in Maryland, and all represented. They 
were : St. Mary's, Kent, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, 
Baltimore, Somerset, Talbot, Cecil, Dorchester, Prince 
George's, and Queen Anne's Counties. Ports of entry were 
made in all the counties where ships and vessels might dis- 
charge and put on shore, " all negroes, wares, goods, mer- 
chandise and commodities whatsoever." 

11. In this year an act was passed for building the 
court-house at Joppa, in Baltimore County, on the land of 
Anne Felks, called Taylor's Choice. Queen Anne vetoed 
this act, but before the fact was known in the province the 
county commissioners had advanced nearly to the comple- 
tion of the building, and it was therefore finished and made 
legal by an act passed in 1712. 

12. An act passed in 1707 required that the agents of Lord 
Baltimore, acting for him in the province in granting lands, 
should hang up in the secretary's oftice all such instructions 
as they had from his lordship concerning the people of 
Maryland. These agents were also required to show a list 
of fees received, or to be received by them, for services done, 
or to be done, for the people, that the lists might be ex- 
amined by the councilors and justices of the province, and 
lessened as they saw fit. 

13. If Lord Baltimore's surveyors should see fit to sur- 
vey any lands before taking the oaths to the government of 



GOVERNOR LLOYD. 95 

Queen Anne, they were required to forfeit one hundred 
pounds sterling. This law was to remain in force until the 
queen's pleasure should be declared in council, where his 
lordship might be heard. 

14. The legislature of 1708 met at " the city of Anna- 
polis " on the 29th of November, and adjourned on the 17th 
of December. Annapolis was made a city in that year, and 
was thereafter so known in Maryland. 

15. The charter of the city of Annapolis was dated the 
22d of November, 1708, in the seventh year of the reign of 
Queen Anne ; sealed with the great seal of her majesty's 
province, and signed with the " sign manual " of his excel- 
lency John Seymour, captain-general and chief governor of 
Maryland. 

16. At this session an act was passed to fix the value of 
certain foreign coins in circulation in Maryland, and it was 
declared that there was little other money in the province 
than the dollars commonly called " dog dollars," and the 
value of these was fixed at four shillings and sixpence. 

17. At the session of 1709, begun the 26th of October 
and ended the 11th of November, Edward Lloyd appeared 
as governor of the province. An act was passed " appoint- 
ing how long suspected runaways should lie in prison, and 
for the discharge of Indian Harry, a prisoner in Somerset 
County." An act was also passed for the relief of poor 
debtors and languishing prisoners. 

18. The session of 1710 commenced on the 24th of Oc- 
tober and ended on the 4th of November. An act was 
passed for building a court-house for Talbot County at 
"Armstrong's Old Fields, near Pitt's Bridge," and an- 
other for continuing the court of St. Mary's County in the 
"new court-house at Seymour-Town," otherwise "Shep- 
pard's Old Fields." 

19. In 1711 it was enacted by the queen's most excellent 
majesty, by the consent of her provincial president, Edward 



96 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Lloyd, that three thousand acres of land, in (Somerset 
County, be laid out for the use of the Nanticoke Indians. 
For this purpose a commission was appointed, to consist 
of Colonel George Gale, Captain Charles Ballard, Samuel 
Worthington, and Benjamin Wales, names destined to be 
well known in the future history of Maryland. 

20. The land was laid out on Broad Creek in that coun- 
ty for the sole use of the Indians, so long as they might be 
pleased to remain upon it. The land was valued by the 
commission, and the value paid to its owners out of the 
provincial treasury. The title to the land was, by law, 
vested in Colonel Thomas Ennalls and Colonel George Gale, 
and their heirs, who held it in trust for the Indians. When 
the Indians retired from the lands in search of better hunt- 
ing-grounds, it became the property of the province. 

21. It will be noticed that the royal government of 
Maryland was none the less careful of the Indians than the 
government of Lord Baltimore had been, and, on account 
of the justice and forbearance toward them on the part of 
both governments, settlers had but little trouble with them 
during the provincial period. 

22. On the 28th of October, 1712, the legislature met 
at the city of Annapolis, President Lloyd in the governor's 
chair. 

23. An act was passed to prevent the inhabitants of the 
province from selling liquor to the Indians, and to prevent 
the spread of false rumors calculated to incite differences be- 
tween them and the queen's subjects settled in the prov- 
ince. 

24. In this year it was brought to the notice of the gen- 
eral assembly of the province, that persons keeping board- 
ing-houses for sailors, and other public houses, had made it 
a practice to draw in and entertain the seamen, to their ruin 
and the delay of commerce. A law was passed to punish 
such practices, as well as several other acts for the advance- 



\ 
TOBACCO A CURRENCY. 97 

ment of trade and commerce at the several ports of entry 
in the province. 

25. In 1713, laws were passed concerning the convey- 
ance and care of public and private letters. It was made 
the duty of the sheriff of one county to carry and deliver 
public letters to the sheriff of another. All public let- 
ters were to be endorsed with the words " For Her Maj- 
esty's Service" ; and any person so endorsing a private 
letter was made liable to a tine of five hundred pounds of 
tobacco. 

:2G. Persons breaking open private letters without leave 
were made liable to imprisonment for six days, and to a fine 
of five pounds sterling, and persons breaking open public 
letters were made to suffer two months' imprisonment and 
a fine of twenty pounds sterling. 

27. Tobacco being a currency in the province, inspectors 
of that article, called " viewers," were appointed by law to 
view all tobaccos as to their grade or quality before they 
were offered in payment of debts. Tobacco refused by a 
creditor when tendered in payment of debts might be viewed 
by two disinterested parties, to be appointed by a justice of 
the peace ; and if, upon viewing the same, it should be 
found clean, sound, and merchantable, and fit to be offered 
in payment of debts, it was so marked on the head and 
bulge of the hogshead which held it. This mode of pro- 
ceeding was final, and the creditor had no right of appeal. 
If he should afterward sue for his money or for better to- 
bacco, he was non-suited. 

28. With respect to lawsuits in the provincial courts, 
it was, in 1713, enacted that no execution upon judgment 
could be stayed on appeal or writ of error before security 
be given by the appellant for debt, costs, and damages likely 
to accrue from the suit. No appeal to the provincial court 
could be made on debts for less than six pounds sterling, or 
twelve hundred pounds of tobacco, nor from the provincial 

5 



98 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

court for less than fifty pounds sterling, or ten thousand 
pounds of tobacco. 

29. Appeals brought up on writs of error from the pro- 
vincial courts were to be heard by the governor and coun- 
cil, as a superior court, which was to convene as such " out 
of assembly time." In case of the absence of the gov- 
ernor, the council itself could act as a superior court, the 
first of the council in commission acting as president. 

30. At a session of assembly, begun and held at the city 
of Annapolis on the 22d of June, and ended on the 3d of 
July, 1714, being the thirteenth year of the reign of "Lady 
Anne," queen of Great Britain, John Hart appeared and 
took the provincial governor's chair. 

31. The people of Maryland had been greatly damaged 
by the war which broke out between France and England 
in 1702 about the Spanish succession, and during Governor 
Hart's administration active steps were taken in the direc- 
tion of their relief. It is alleged that many of the people 
" were utterly ruined," not only by losses at sea of their to- 
bacco, taken by the enemy, but also by the shutting up of 
the European markets. 

32. Very many honest and industrious planters, on ac- 
count of expenses for agricultural implements and clothing, 
had become vastly indebted, and no means of relief had yet 
arrived ; no prospect as yet appearing whereby they might 
escape from their reduced circumstances. They complained 
of being sued for debts brought to Annapolis from distant 
parts of the province, to their manifest oppression and hin- 
drance from bringing about the means for discharging their 
obligations. 

33. Many of the people were deserting their old habita- 
tions and removing to other plantations and colonies, and 
the queen of Great Britain was therefore losing much of 
her revenue from customs paid on tobacco. This state of 
things called for some speedy remedy, and the legislature 



DEATH OF QUEEX ANNE. 99 

ordered that all suits should be brought in the eounty courts 
on considerations not exceeding twenty pounds sterling or 
five thousand pounds of tobacco. 

34. No suit was to be brought on bond in any other 
than the county court unless the real sum in the condition 
amounted to sums in money or tobacco, as above stated, If 
any drawer or endorser of a bill of exchange should be sued 
in any court of the province, the attorneys prosecuting or 
defending the action were not allowed to take more than 
one lawful fee, even if there were two or more endorsers 
and the drawer as parties to the suit. 

85. It was made lawful for the plaintiff in a suit, if oc- 
casion should require it, to put into any one writ two or 
more defendants residing in one county, without paying 
the fees for more than one writ, or in any manner making 
extra, cost over the legal charges for a single writ. 

36. In 1714 a number of acts to relieve the people from 
annoyance and delay in petty lawsuits were passed and ap- 
proved. They felt relieved ; the wisdom and benevolence 
of their rulers Avere manifest, and prosperity, safety, and 
confidence were once more restored to them. 

37. On the 1st of August, 1714, Anne, queen of Great 
Britain, died, in the thirteenth year of her reign. In her 
private capacity, she was virtuous, charitable, and a perfect 
model of piety. As a sovereign, she was easy, kind, and 
generous. Her death was extremely regretted by most of 
her subjects, and especially by the people of Maryland, who 
had loved her with filial affection during the whole course 
of her reign. 

38. In this year also, on the 24th of February, Charles, 
Lord Baltimore, who had been deprived of the government 
of Maryland for a quarter of a century, died in England in 
the eighty-fifth year of his age. His titles and his province 
descended to his son Benedict Leonard Calvert, fifth lord, 
who did not live long enough to enter upon the duties of the 



100 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

government of Maryland. He died on the 5th of April, 
1715, leaving his title and estates to his minor son, Charles 
Calvert, under the guardianship of Lord Guilford. 

39. On the 20th of October, 1714, George Lewis was 
crowned king of Great Britain, under the title of George I., 
as successor of the late Qeeen Anne, and Governor Hart, 
finding a friend in his majesty, was continued in office as 
the governor of Maryland. 

40. In Charles Calvert, born on the 29th of September, 
1099, is recognized the sixth Lord Baltimore. 

41. " Charles, absolute lord and proprietary of the prov- 
inces of Maryland and Avalon," writes Lord Guilford, in 
1715, " Lord Baron of Baltimore in the kingdom of Ireland, 
a minor, to all persons to whom these presents shall come, 
greeting. Know ye, that, reposing special trust in Charles 
Carroll of our province of Maryland, esquire, we have ap- 
pointed him to be our chief agent, naval officer, and receiver- 
general of all our rents, arrears of rents, fines, forfeitures, 
tobaccos, or moneys due, or to be due to us, within the said 
province." 

42. In the ancestral name of Charles Carroll, which is 
found so far back in the early history of Maryland, we be- 
hold the name of another individual destined to appear on 
the great stage of a coming revolution. In the stormy 
infancy of the province the germs of national independence 
were planted, and they took early and vigorous root in the 
pure principles of the men of 1715. 

43. In this year, the members of the legislature made " a 
most joyful and just recognition of the immediate, lawful, 
and undoubted succession and right of the crown of Great 
Britain, and of the kingdoms and dominions thereunto be- 
longing." 

44. " We express our joys," said the members in the 
preamble to an act, " that upon the decease of our late 
sovereign lady, Queen Anne, of pious memory, the imperial 



GOVERNOR HART. 101 

crown of the realm, by lawful succession in the true Prot- 
estant line, belonged to your majesty." 

45. On account of these expressions of loyalty to the 
king of England by the representatives of the people of 
Maryland, he became very kindly disposed toward them, 
and at the instance of Lord Guilford restored the govern- 
ment of the province to the minor Lord Baltimore, with 
all the rights and privileges named in the original charter 
granted to Lord Cecilius, in 1632. 

46. The minor Lord Baltimore having been educated 
in the Protestant religion, there was no difference between 
him and the king on this subject, and the province w T as re- 
stored to him as an act of right and justice. 

47. From 1692 to 1715 the government of Maryland 
w T as ably administered by five royal governors, Lionel Cop- 
ley, Francis Nicholson, Nathaniel Blackiston, John Sey- 
mour, and John Hart. Sir Edward Andros assumed the 
government, in 1692, as acting governor, until the arrival 
of Governor Copley from England. 

48. Friendly relations existing between the king, the 
lord proprietary, Lord Guilford, and Governor Hart, the 
latter was made the proprietary governor of Maryland, and 
he appeared as such at the meeting of the provincial legis- 
lature on the 17th of July, 1716. 

49. The first steps taken on the restoration of the pro- 
prietary government were in the direction of the preserva- 
tion of the provincial records. These had been much worn 
and damaged by time and careless handling. Many of 
them were lost and others mutilated in their removal from 
the old state-house at St. Mary's to Annapolis. The clerks 
to whom they had been intrusted had failed to keep the 
books in proper order ; some needed repairs, and it was 
necessary to copy the contents of others into new books. 

50. Colonel Samuel Young, Joseph Hill, Benjamin Tas- 
ker, and John Beale were appointed to inspect the decays 



1()2 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

and defects of all the records of the land office, the secre- 
tary's and commissary's offices, and to report as to all 
proper repairs of books, files, and furniture therein. The 
heads of the offices above mentioned were, after the in- 
spection and repair of the records, required to give bond 
and security for their safekeeping in future. 

51. In 1716 all fees, fines, and forfeitures which, under 
the royal government, had been made payable to the crown, 
were turned into the treasury of Lord Baltimore, and all 
lawsuits formerly entered in the name of the king's most 
excellent majesty were now entered in the name of the 
right honorable Charles, absolute lord and proprietary of 
the provinces of Maryland and Avalon. 

52. In this year it was discovered to the legislature 
that the people of the province had been greatly damaged 
and abused in their estates by sheriffs, who by virtue of 
writs had taken more goods in execution than were neces- 
sary to satisfy the debts to be collected. They were charged 
with keeping goods so taken a long time in their custody, 
under pretense of want of buyers. On this account the 
goods became injured, so that, when exjjosed to sale, some 
of great value did not bring one-tenth part of that value, to 
the great loss of both debtor and creditor, and to the ruin 
of some families. These abuses were promptly corrected. 

53. Goods taken by a sheriff, therefore, were ordered to 
be appraised, and notice thereof given to the creditor, who 
was compelled to receive so much in satisfaction of the 
debt as, according to the appraisement, should amount to 
the debt and costs. If this should be refused, the sheriff 
had the power to return the goods to the debtor, and this 
act was then made a perpetual bar to the claim of the 
creditor. 

54. It was the law, also, that no slaves, plate, or jewelry 
should be seized in the hands of an executor. 

55. Reforms in all the departments of government, law, 



LIBERAL LEGISLATION. 103 

and business were strictly made and insisted upon by Lord 
Guilford, Governor Hart, and the members of both houses 
of assembly. The people felt great relief, and tracks, large 
and small, made upon the smooth roads cut through the 
wilderness of woodlands, pointed to the church on the way- 
side and the log school-house in the grove. 

56. The public-school system, as it existed about the be- 
ginning of the year 1717, displays a commendable solici- 
tude for the cultivation of the minds and morals of the 
youth of the province. In the absence of collegiate insti- 
tutions, private schools, conducted by learned men of all 
creeds, laid the foundation of scholastic knowledge. The 
more affluent youth were educated abroad ; but the old 
log school-house and the winter fireside developed the germs 
of science, and produced a race of men with large capacities 
for public affairs. 

57. Three quarters of a century had gone by since the 
foundations of the old city of St. Mary's were laid ; and 
old settlers, who had buried their honored dead in provincial 
soil, felt that Maryland was, indeed, their home and fireside. 

58. From these considerations, patriotism took deep root, 
and especially did it gain force in view of the churchyards 
and the ruins of the old city of St. Mary's, now almost 
abandoned to the moles and the bats. 

59. At the May session of the assembly of 1717, a law 
was passed to punish counterfeiting the great seal of the 
province, the seals-at-arms, any other public seal, or the 
sign-manual of Lord Baltimore. Any person so offending 
was to be sentenced to a forfeiture to the lord proprietary 
and his heirs of all his goods, lands, and tenements in his 
possession at the time of committing the offense, one half to 
be applied to the support of a public school in the county 
in which the offense was committed. 

60. The law inflicted the same punishment upon any 
person who might "steal away any of the true seals of 



104 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

the province," and, in addition to the punishment already 
named, the offender was to he whipped with thirty-nine 
lashes, stand in the pillory two hours, and then be banished 
from the province. The seals were never counterfeited or 
stolen after the passage of this act. 

61. It was at this time regarded as of dangerous con- 
sequence to admit as evidence in any of the courts of rec- 
ord, or before a magistrate, the testimony of any negro, 
Indian slave, or free Indian native, and a law was passed 
admitting such evidence against one another, but not against 
any Christian white person. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
1717-1728. 

Settlements on the Potomac River. — Indian Names. — Governor Calvert. — 
Friends, or Quakers. — Towns in Maryland. 

1. In 1717 settlements had dotted the soil of Maryland 
as high up as the Great Falls of the Potomac, and extended 
across to the Pennsylvania line. All the eastern shore was 
settled, except certain reservations for " manors " and for 
Indians. Surveys, intended for grants, were being made as 
high up as the Monocacy River, called by the Indians Me- 
nag-as-si, or Me-nak-as-si. These words are derived from 
Mas-ka-ne, strong and rapid, and Ok-ke-han-ne, a crooked 
or winding stream. They have been modernized into Mono- 
cacy, which signifies " a rapid stream containing several 
great bends or windings." 

2. Surveys and grants had also been made on Great and 
Little Senegar, extending along the Potomac from the falls 
of Senegar to the "mouth of Monocacy." Senegal*, now 
called Seneca, was known to the Indians as Shin-nik-han-ne, 
a stony stream, creek, or river. Sin-ni-pe-hel-le is an Indian 
word which includes the adjective, subject, predicate, and 
object, and signifies '* strong water rushing over rocks and 
stones." This is the original name of Senegar Falls. 

3. Lord Baltimore, as the absolute lord and owner of 
the soil of Maryland, assumed the right of reserving for his 
own use such tracts of land as he thought proper. It would 
be impossible to name all the reserves made under the pro- 



JOfi THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

prietary government, or make a list of the manors from 
time to time erected in different parts of the province. 

4. According to Sir William Blackstone, manors were 
anciently called baronies or lordships, and each lord or 
baron was empowered to hold a domestic court, called the 
court-baron, for redressing misdemeanors and nuisances 
within the manor, as well as for settling disputes concern- 
ing property among the tenants. 

5. A court-leet was a court of record held once in a year 
within a particular hundred, lordship, or manor, before the 
steward of the leet. It was the king's court, granted by 
charter to the lords of those hundreds or manors. The 
original intent of this court was to view the freemen in the 
district, hundred, or manor, who were all mutually pledges 
for the good behavior of each other. Besides this, the 
punishment of minute offenses against the public good was 
the object of the court-baron or court-leet. The word leet 
means nothing more than the court of a baron. 

6. The king of England granted to Lord Baltimore, his 
heirs and successors, the soil of the province of Maryland, to 
be held by them in socage tenure, which is defined as " a 
free and privileged tenure," yet, on reference to the charter 
confirming the grant, it is found that a certain rent was 
made payable to the kings of England. 

7. The charter sets forth that, in consideration of the 
gift or grant of the province, Lord Baltimore shall yield 
unto " the kings of England, their heirs and successors, two 
Indian arrows of those parts, to be delivered at the castle 
of Windsor every year on Tuesday in Easter-week, and 
also the fifth part of all gold and silver ore, which shall 
happen from time to time to be found within the aforesaid 
limits." 

8. It was by free and common socage, "by fealty only 
for all services," that the Lords Baltimore held the grant 
of Maryland, and under the same kind of tenure they made 



<; THE CONDITIONS OF PLANTATION." lot 

grants of land to settlers in the province. They frequently 
subjected their tenants in Maryland, who held large bodies 
of land, to only the annual rent of some trifling article or 
curiosity, as a bushel of corn, an Indian arrow, or a buck's 
foot. 

9. The sheriff's tourn, or rotation, says Blackstone, was 
a court of record held twice every year, before the sheriff 
in different parts of the county ; being, indeed, only the 
turn of the sheriff to keep a court-leet in each respective 
hundred. This, therefore, was the great court-leet of the 
county, as the county court was the court-baron. 

10. These different courts were held in Maryland during 
the continuance of the provincial government, and from 
them originated all the courts, great and small, ever known 
in the state. 

11. Strong inducements were held out to adventurers by 
" the conditions of plantation " published from time to time 
by Lord Baltimore. According to his first conditions, an 
adventurer or settler received two thousand acres of land at 
a rent of only four hundred pounds of wheat per annum 
for every five persons he might bring into the province, be- 
tween the ages of sixteen and fifty years. Those who 
brought in more or less than five persons between the ages 
mentioned received lands in like proportion, the rents 
averaging about ten pounds of wheat to every fifty acres of 
land. "With the grant of a manor containing three or four 
thousand acres of land in a body, Lord Baltimore also 
granted the powers of a court-baron and court-leet to be 
held from time to time within the said manor, that therein 
disputes might be settled, and peace and harmony main- 
tained among the sub-tenants. 

12. At a session of the legislature, which met at Annap- 
olis on the 1 1th of October, 1720, Charles Calvert appeared 
in the place of John Hart, and took the chair as governor 
of the province. At all the sessions, or nearly all, held 



108 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

since the beginning of the royal government down to the 
year 1720, acts for the naturalization of foreigners were 
freely passed, and large numbers were admitted to citizen- 
ship. 

13. At this time all the colonists that sailed for Mary- 
land in the Ark and the Dove were either buried in provin- 
cial soil, the soil of neighboring colonies, or that of Old 
England, and their numerous descendants were enjoying the 
happy homes bequeathed to them in the conquered wilder- 
ness of Maryland. 

14. Under the administration of the young lord pro- 
prietary and Governor Calvert, provincial affairs prospered, 
wholesome laws were- enacted, and the poor settler was pro- 
tected from the petty tyrant who would use power for no 
other reason than that he had liberty to do so. 

15. Laws for the stay of execution in the collection of 
small debts were passed, and extended to judgments ob- 
tained in the court of appeals, court of chancery, and com- 
missary's court. No duty was, after the year 1721, payable 
by the inhabitants or new settlers on the importation of 
their own proper domestic slaves, and laborers employed in 
the forges and iron works of the province were exempted 
from the payment of taxes or any kind of levy whatever. 

16. Attorneys neglecting their clients' cause in any of 
the county courts were liable to a fine of four hundred 
pounds of tobacco, and they were made liable to prosecu- 
tion under this head in any county in which they practiced. 
Profane swearing was made punishable by fine, drunken- 
ness by a fine of five shillings for every offense, and blas- 
phemy by a fine of twenty pounds sterling, and a hole bored 
through the tongue. 

17. In 1723 Sabbath-breaking was made punishable by 
a fine of two hundred pounds of tobacco, and house-keepers 
selling strong liquor on Sunday were subject to a fine of 
two thousand pounds of the same article. 



SCHOOL TRUSTEES. iqq 

18. The act passed in 1692 for the encouragement of 
learning in the province was revived in 1723, and we find 
as leaders in the cause of education such men as Rev. Leigh 
Massey and Colonel Greenfield, of St. Mary's County ; Rev. 
Richard Sewell and Colonel Edward Scott, of Kent ; Rev. 
Joseph Colebatch, Colonel Samuel Young, Charles Ham- 
mond, and Richard Warfield, of Anne Arundel ; Rev. 
Jonathan Cay, Colonel John Mackall, and Colonel John 
Smith, of Calvert ; Rev. William Tibbs, Colonel John Dor- 
sey, and John Israel, of Baltimore ; Rev. William Macon- 
chie, Captain Joseph Harrison, and Samuel Hanson, of 
Charles ; Rev. Henry Nicholls, Colonel Matthew Tilghmau 
Ward, Robert Goldsborough, and Thomas Bozman, of Tal- 
bot ; Rev. Alexander Adams and Levin Gale, of Somerset • 
Rev. Thomas Howell and Colonel Roger Woolford, of Dor- 
chester ; Colonel John Ward and Colonel Benjamin Pearce, 
of Cecil ; Hon. Charles Calvert, governor, and Colonel John 
Bradford, of Prince George ; and Philemon Lloyd, Richard 
Tilghman, James Earle, William Turbutt, and Edward 
Wright, of Queen Anne's. 

19. These gentlemen and a number of others were, by 
law, made trustees and visitors of schools to be established 
in their respective counties, and empowered to hold lands, 
build houses, and make laws for the government of the 
schools, as well as appoint teachers and fix their salaries. 
Commencing in 1723, public schools were rapidly erected in 
all the counties, on the plan of King William's school, at 
Annapolis. ^rnr»t> £/• 

20. In 1724 an act was passed for erecting a town at 
Joppa, in Baltimore County, at which place a court-house 
and prison had already been erected on land belonging to 
the minor child of Colonel James Maxwell. The law, 
passed as stated, confirmed the land to the use of the coun- 
ty for ever, and empowered certain commissioners to pur- 
chase twenty acres of land, and cause the same to be laid 



HO THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

out into forty lots, to be erected into a town. .Toppa was 
the old seat of justice in Baltimore County. All houses 
built in the town were to cover not less than four hundred 
square feet of ground, chimneys to be built of brick or 
stone ; and the ancient provincial chimney, built of wood 
and clay, was thus condemned as unfit to be erected at the 
county seat. 

21. In 1725 a great number of respectable and wealthy 
people called Friends, or Quakers, resided in the province of 
Maryland. They represented to the general assembly of 
that year that sundry persons had set up booths, and sold 
drink and other things near their yearly-meeting houses, to 
their great disturbance in the exercise of their religion, 
converting their places of worship into places of traffic and 
immorality. A law was therefore promptly passed forbid- 
ding such traffic within one or two miles from their places 
of worship, under a penalty of ten pounds current money of 
Maryland, to be applied to the use of the public school in 
the county where the offense was committed. 

22. On the 10th of October, 1727, the legislature con- 
vened at Annapolis, and Benedict Leonard Calvert appeared 
and took his seat as governor of the province. He was the 
lord proprietary's brother. 

23. At this time wolves, crows, and squirrels were so 
numerous in Maryland that a law was passed to encourage 
their destruction. The wolf attacked lambs, pigs, calves, 
and even children ; the crow pulled up the young corn just 
sprouting from the ground, and large flocks of these birds 
would light in a corn-field and eat a hundred bushels in a 
day. Squirrels in hundreds came into the corn-fields, and 
with their sharp teeth would cut the ears of corn at the 
top, so that rain-water would run in and spoil the whole ear. 
They would also visit the grain-fields, cut off the heads of 
the wheat and rye, and carry them off to their den-trees to 
be eaten at their convenience. It therefore became neces- 



A BOUNTY PAID FOR WOLVES' HEADS. m 

sary to pass a law to protect planters from the ravages of 
these voracious birds and animals, and it was enacted that 
every master or mistress of a family, or taxable single per- 
son, should be obliged, some time in every year, to produce 
to some justice of the peace in their county, three squirrels' 
scalps or crows' heads for every taxable inhabitant in the 
family. 

24. The justice before whom such scalps and heads were 
brought was obliged to destroy them, that they could not 
be brought to him a second time. He was also required to 
report to the county authorities the number of squirrels' 
scalps and crows' heads brought before him, with the names 
of the persons who brought them, that it might be known 
who had, and who had not, been at work in the execution 
of the law. If any person failed to do his or her part in 
killing crows and squirrels, and taking their heads or 
scalps, he or she was subject to a fine €>( two pounds of 
tobacco. 

25. A reward of two hundred pounds of tobacco was 
given to any person who might bring a wolf's head before 
any justice of the peace for the county in which the wolf 
was killed ; and, that the head of the said wolf might not 
be brought before the justice a second time, lie was required 
to cut out the tongue and crop off the ears. In order to 
obtain this reward, certain persons, not very careful of their 
reputation, would, in evasion of law, buy heads for a trifle 
from the Indians, perhaps in Virginia ; but at length heads, 
which were often scarce in the market, brought a higher 
price than the value of the reward. 

26. In 1728 it was represented to the legislature that 
the people of Somerset County were much oppressed by 
bears, and a law was passed which gave a reward of one 
hundred pounds of tobacco for each bear killed in that 
county. To prevent a double allowance for one bear, the 
justice before whom the head was brought was required to 



112 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

see that it was green and fresh killed, to cut out the tongue, 
crop off the ears, and give a certificate to this effect. 

27. In this year the name of Seymour Town, in St. 
Mary's County, so named after one of the royal governors 
of Maryland, was changed to Leonard Town, and made the 
seat of justice in the county. This town was first estab- 
lished in 1708, when Mr. Seymour was governor. Fifty 
acres of land were laid out at the time, and erected into a 
town at Sheppard's Old Fields, and the court-house of the 
county was to be built there. This was the original Leonard 
Town. 

28. In 1729 a town, called Charles-Town, was laid out 
at the head of Port Tobacco Creek, in Charles County. All 
the houses were to be built over four hundred square feet 
of ground, exclusive of sheds, and to front on some street, 
lane, or alley. 

29. The first newspaper, called "The Maryland Ga- 
zette," was printed at Annapolis in 1727 by Will. Parks. 
Among other works published in the province at this time 
Mas " The Right of the Inhabitants of Maryland to the Ben- 
efit of the English Laws. By D. Dulany, Esq. Price, 2s." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

1728-1748. 

Baltimore Town erected. —Other Towns. — Boundary Disputes.— William Penn 
and Lord Baltimore. — Centennial of Maryland. — Lord Fairfax. — Lesser 
Seal of Maryland.— Towns erected. — First Newspaper in Maryland. — 
Counties erected, etc. 

1. At a session of the legislature, which convened at 
Annapolis on the 10th of July, 1729, in the time of Bene- 
dict Leonard Calvert, governor of the province, an act was 
passed for " erecting a town on the north side of Patapsco, 
in Baltimore County, and for laying out in lots sixty acres 
of land, in and about the place where one John Flemming 
then lived." 

2. This act was passed on the 8th of August, 1729, and 
certain commissioners were appointed to purchase sixty 
acres of a tract of land known as Cole's Harbor. The same 
was to be laid out in the most convenient manner into 
sixty lots, to be erected into a town. Thomas Tolly, Wil- 
liam Hamilton, George Walker, George Buchanan, William 
Buckner, William Hammond, and Richard Gist were ap- 
pointed by the act to lay out the town. 

3. On the 12th of January, 1730, the land was laid out, 
surveyed, marked, staked off, and divided into streets and 
lanes. The lots were marked and numbered, and the owner 
of the land had the first choice for one lot. It was enacted 
that houses built in this town should cover no less than 
four hundred square feet of ground, as was the case in 
most of the towns previously erected, and no person was 



114 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

allowed to take up more than one lot in the first four 
months. 

4. This small town was erected just one hundred years 
after the first Lord Baron of Baltimore in the kingdom of 
Ireland visited the Chesapeake, and was called Baltimore- 
Town, after his title and that of his line of successors, avIio 
by a royal grant were made lords proprietary of the prov- 
ince of Maryland. 

5. About this time many towns were laid out in differ- 
ent parts of the province, among which were Cecil Town, 
Chester Town, and " Ogle Town upon Chester." 

0. At a session of the legislature which met at Annapo- 
lis on the 11th of July, 1732, Samuel Ogle appeared as 
governor of the province. At this session " Ogle Town 
upon Chester " was founded in honor of the governor, and 
an act was passed for erecting a town on a creek, divided 
on the east from the town lately laid out in Baltimore 
County called Baltimore-Town, on the land whereon Ed- 
ward Fell kept store. This town was called Jones Town, 
was laid out upon ten acres of land, and houses built there- 
on were to cover not less than four hundred square feet of 
ground. The great city of Baltimore arose from these two 
humble foundations, and the province of Maryland grew 
rich frtmi its trade and commerce. 

7. In this year Salisbury Town, in Somerset County, 
and King's Town, in Queen Anne, were founded, and 
" Benedict Leonard Town," in Charles County, was re- 
erected on fifteen acres of land. Bridge Town, at the 
bridge near the head of Great Choptank River, was also 
founded in this year, and lot-holders were required to pay 
one penny per lot to the lord proprietary as an annual 
ground-rent for ever. 

8. This was a time of great prosperity in Maryland. 
At the session of the legislature which met on the 13th of 
March, L732, Charles, Lord Baltimore, appeared in person 



WILLIAM TENN AND LORD BALTIMORE. 



115 



and took his seat as governor of the province. This legis- 
lature, it will be noticed, met in the last month of the year 
1732, and, after a short session of one month only, ad- 
journed on the 12th of April, 1733, the first month of that 
vear, according to the Julian calendar. 

9. It appears that Lord Baltimore was induced to visit 
Maryland on account of the 
boundary troubles between 
the province and Pennsyl- 
vania. The location of a 
dividing line between the 
two provinces had been a 
subject of dispute since the 
year 1682. In that year, 
William Penn, proprietary 
of Pennsylvania, met Charles 
Lord Baltimore in Maryland, 
and produced a letter from 
King Charles II., directing 
the settlement of the dis- 
pute on the basis that the 
northern limits of Maryland 
should be fixed upon by a 
line two degrees in length 
drawn from the southern boundary of the province, sixty 
miles to a degree. 

10. Lord Baltimore rejected the mandate of the king, 
and maintained that his patent named no specific number 
of degrees, but called for the fortieth degree of north lati- 
tude from the equator. He took the ground that no royal 
word could alter or take away what had been granted 
under the great seal of the realm, and Mr. Penn's visit to 
Maryland resulted in a failure. 

11. The boundary troubles continued without abatement 
for fiftv vears, when, in 1732, at the instance of the two 




116 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

parties, commissioners were appointed to settle all differ- 
ences respecting the limits of the two provinces ; but these 
commissioners failed to reach a final settlement. 

12. In 1733 Elk Ridge Landing, " near the head of Pa- 
tapsco River," was erected into a town, and thirty acres of 
land, lying convenient to the water, were^aid out into lots 
for buildings. For a time this place rivaled Baltimore in 
growth ; large ships entered the deep water there, and large 
quantities of tobacco were laden for European markets. 

13. At this time the public printing, which had been 
done by the Bradfords in Philadelphia, was done on a press 
at Annapolis. On the title-pages of the laws printed on 
this press is found an engraving of the greater seal-at-arms 
of the Lords Baltimore, showing the "leopards guardant" 
and all the armorial ensigns designating the family. An 
engraving of the same seal illustrates the title-pages of 
the laws of Maryland, published at Annapolis by William 
Parks in 1727. 

14. In 1733 " Princess Anne Town," in Somerset Coun- 
ty, was laid out on a tract of land supposed to belong to 
David Brown, and owners of lots were required to pay one 
penny per annum on each lot to the lord proprietary of 
the province or his heirs for ever. 

15. The year 1734 completed the hundredth year of 
the provincial existence of Maryland. Her people repre- 
sented all the nations and creeds of Europe ; they had no 
animosities to gratify ; no injuries to revenge ; nothing to 
stimulate them to extend their limits, and they laid claim 
to no lands they had not bought, settled, and conquered. 
They had not been living on the reputation of their pro- 
genitors in a manner devoid of noble thoughts and deeds, 
but had been adding to their own patrimony in fortune and 
in fame. The men of Maryland, even at that early day, 
who acquired a reputation in the forum, the senate, and the 
field, were mostly builders of their own fortunes. 



BOUNDARY DISPUTES. \\^ 

16. At the time when Maryland had made one hundred 
years of history the census-taker might have counted one 
hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants, a score of pros- 
perous towns, and five thousand plantations. 

17. At times the boundary disputes between Maryland 
and Virginia caused as much trouble to the people as they 
had encountered on the same subject with Pennsylvania. 
A map, called Herrman's map of Maryland and Virginia, 
was published by royal authority in 1673. On this map the 
boundary line between the two colonies is dotted as running 
on the southern bank of the Potomac River, down to the 
Chesapeake Bay, and then some distance into its waters. It 
leaves Smith's Island in Maryland, and passes near the south 
end of Watkins's Point, named in Lord Baltimore's charter. 
In 1668 this line was agreed upon as the true boundary line 
between Maryland and Virginia, and marked from Poco- 
moke Sound across the peninsula to the Atlantic coast by 
a double line of trees. The other line had its beginning at 
the first fountain of the north branch of the Potomac River, 
where, on the 17th of October, 1746, Lord Fairfax planted 
a stone to mark the boundary of his grant of land, called 
the Northern Neck of Virginia. From this stone the west- 
ern boundary of Maryland ran on the meridian of the place 
until it cut the line between Maryland and Pennsylvania. 

18. All the Lords Baltimore claimed the meridian of the 
first fountain of the south branch of the Potomac as the 
western boundary of Maryland ; but in the boundary dis- 
putes they lost it and also a half million acres of land which 
justly belonged to them. 

19. The location of Watkins's Point has been a subject 
of great difficulty. The charter of Maryland locates it as a 
promontory on the Chesapeake Bay, near the Wicomico 
River, but it is now washed away, and is known only as the 
southern end of Watts's Island. In these boundary disputes 
the Lords Baltimore lost also the whole territory of Dela- 



118 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

ware, and that vast body of land lying between Mason and 
Dixon's line and the fortieth parallel of north latitude. 

20. \n 1733 an act was passed to emit and make current 
" ninety thousand pounds of current money of Maryland." 
Paper money was to be issued to this amount, and to circu- 
late thirty-one years from the 29th of September of that 
year. On the face of the paper money issued in compliance 
with this and other subsequent acts is a rude picture of the 
lesser seal of the province of Maryland. The figures of the 
fisherman and farmer which appear on the greater seal are 
also on the lesser, as well as the shield, the count palatine's 
cap, the ducal crown, the helmet and bannerets. The form 
of this seal is square, like the greater seal-at-arms, and orna- 
mental carving is seen over the heads of the supporters of 
the shield. On some of the coins and the issues of paper 
money, the words " Crescite et Multiplicamini " appear, but 
not upon any of the provincial seals, nor upon the seals-at- 
arms of the Lords Baltimore. 

21. At a session of the legislature which met at Annapo- 
lis on the 20th of March, 1734, Samuel Ogle, who had tem- 
porarily yielded the governor's chair to Lord Baltimore in 
person, again assumed it as governor of the province, Lord 
Baltimore having set sail for England. 

22. In 1736 an act was passed for erecting a town in 
Cecil County on thirty acres of land, to be divided into sixty 
equal lots. Lot-holders in the town were required to pay 
one penny per lot per annum to Lord Baltimore and his 
heirs for ever ; and it was named Frederick Town, after the 
name of his lordship's young son. 

23. In the same year George Town, in Kent County, 
was erected on the south side of Sassafras River, on a tract 
of land known as Tolchester. Sixty acres of land were laid 
out into one hundred lots, and each lot was made subject to 
a ground-rent of one penny per annum, payable to Lord 
Baltimore and his heirs for ever. 



TOWNS ERECTED. 119 

24. About the year 1T40 the Indian tribes of Maryland, 
that had lived with the whites for more than one hundred 
years in almost uninterrupted peace, were gathering up the 
bones of their fathers preparatory to a departure to new 
hunting-grounds in the west. 

25. The title of some of the tribes of the Six Nations to 
lands in Maryland was extinguished by treaty and actual 
purchase ; they were departing from the Choptank and 
Nanticoke settlements on the eastern, and on the western 
shore they were nearly all absorbed in civilization. 

26. On the 20th of September, 1737, Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton was born at Annapolis. 

27. At the session of the legislature which assembled at 
Annapolis on the 21st of September, 1742, Thomas Bladen 
appeared as governor of Maryland. 

28. In this year an act was passed for laying out anew 
the town commonly called Snow Hill Town, then in Somer- 
set County. This place was first erected into a town in 
1686, and again confirmed by an act passed in 1706. The 
houses built in this town were to cover four hundred square 
feet of ground, and the chimneys were to be built of brick. 

29. In this year, also, Somerset County was divided, and 
a new county, called Worcester, erected <m the seaboard. 
Watkins's Point, at the same time, was made the beginning 
of the boundary line of Somerset County. 

30. In the same year an act was passed for laying out 
and erecting a town at Garrison Landing, on the south 
side of the eastern branch of the Potomac River, to be 
called Bladensburg, after the new governor of Maryland. 
Charles Town was also laid out at a place called Long 
Point, on the west side of Northeast River, in Cecil 
County. One year's residence in this town gave all the 
rights of a residence in the province. Although a great 
number of towns were erected in early times, yet very few 
of them ever grew to importance. Baltimore took from 



120 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

them their trade ; they languished, and some of them are 
almost forgotten. 

31. On the 31st of October, 1740, William Paca was 
born in Harford County, and was an early advocate of the 
rights of the American colonies. 

32. In 1741 Samuel Chase was born in Somerset County. 
lie became a pure patriot, a learned judge, and a leader in 
the cause of independence. 

33. In 1743 Thomas Stone was born in Charles County. 
He soon took his place among the great leaders in the prov- 
ince — not born for himself, but for his country. 

34. A town laid out at a plaee called the Trap, on Ind- 
ian River, in Worcester County, in 1744, was called Balti- 
more Town ; but, unlike Baltimore on the Patapsco, it 
never grew to importance. Upper Marlborough, in Prince 
George's County, was laid out in 1706, and laid out <m< w 
in 1744. 

35. In 1745 the second regular newspaper published in 
Maryland was established at Annapolis by Jonas Green. 
It was called the " Maryland Gazette," and was published 
by the first editor and his descendants for more than one 
hundred years. 

30. On the 10th of May, 1747, Samuel Ogle appeared 
at a session of the legislature, and took his seat as governor 
of Maryland for a third term. 

37. In 1748 Prince George's County was divided, and 
a new one, called Frederick County, was erected from the 
territory of its upper portion. 



CHAPTER XV. 

1748-1763. 

Boundary Disputes. — " Old and New Style." — War Threatened. — Braddock's 
. March through Maryland. — His Death and Burial. — Colonel Cresap and 
the Indians. — " Mound Builders" in Maryland. 

1. Soon after Lord Baltimore obtained his charter, a 
body of Swedes and Fins made settlements on the Dela- 
ware within the bounds of Lord Baltimore's grant ; and, 
when these settlements were conquered by the Dutch, dis- 
putes arose between them and Lord Baltimore as to his ex- 
clusive right to all the land embraced within the lines of his 
charter. These disputes continued until the settlements 
passed by conquest into the possession of the English. In 
1681 William Penn obtained a charter for Pennsylvania, 
and about the same time he purchased from the Duke of 
York the territories west of the Delaware which had been 
granted to him by his brother, King Charles II. 

2. These grants included the town of Newcastle and a 
territory of twelve miles around it, also the land between 
the southern extremity of the circle of twelve miles and 
what was then Cape Henlopen. Penn assumed control of 
these territories in 1682, and demanded of the planters that 
they pay rent and taxes to him. 

3. This gave rise to a violent controversy, which was 
not settled till many years after. 

4. The claim of Lord Baltimore to the lands on the Del- 
aware, being referred to the committee on plantations, it re- 
ported that " the lands intended to be granted to his lordship 



122 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

were such as were occupied by savages, but the tract claimed 
by him had been planted by Christians prior to his grant." 

5. " To avoid further difficulties," the committee on 
plantations decreed that " the peninsula between the Chesa- 
peake and Delaware should be divided into two equal parts, 
by a line drawn from the latitude of Cape Henlopen to the 
fortieth degree of north latitude, the portion lying toward 
the Delaware to belong to the king, and the other to Lord 
Baltimore." Much depended upon a true map of the penin- 
sula, and upon the true location of Cape Henlopen. A map 
was prepared in 1732 by commissioners appointed for the 
purpose, who came to an agreement by which a circle drawn 
around Newcastle should be the starting-point for estab- 
lishing the northern boundary line described in the charter 
of Maryland. 

C. With Newcastle as a center, therefore, and twelve 
miles as a radius, a circle was to be described about that 
town. A line, due east and west, was then to be drawn 
across the peninsula, from Cape Henlopen toward the Chesa- 
peake, to stop in the exact middle of the peninsula. From 
this point a straight line was to be drawn northward, and 
produced so as to touch the western part of the periphery 
of the circle, forming a tangent, and then stop short. 

7. From the tangent point, it was agreed to run a line 
due north, until it should come into the same latitude as 
that of a point located at a distance of fifteen miles south 
of the most southern part of Philadelphia. 

8. From the end of the line so determined, a line due 
west was to be drawn to cross the Susquehanna River, and 
run to the western extent of the province of Pennsylvania. 

9. The questions arose, whether it was really meant that 
the circle to be described about Newcastle should be of a 
radius or periphery of twelve miles ? where should be its 
proper center? and where the exact point designated by 
Cape Henlopen ? After a long and expensive suit in chan- 



DEATH OF LORD BALTIMORE. 123 

eery respecting these questions. Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, 
in 1750, decided that the circle in question should be of a 
radius of twelve miles, its center in the center of the town 
of Newcastle, and Cape Henlopen as laid down on the map 
of the commissioners. This map located the cape at Fen- 
wick's Island, much lower down than the present Cape 
Henlopen. 

10. Charles, Lord Baltimore, died in 1751 before he saw 
the end of the boundary disputes, and Frederick, his son, 
succeeded him as lord proprietary of the province. Both 
these lords, when it was seen that the establishment of the 
boundary line in question involved such a great loss of their 
territory, resisted the plan of settlement ; but Frederick, 
fearing the loss of his charter, submitted to an amicable 
arrangement. 

11. Articles in confirmation of the arrangement were 
signed on the 4th of July, 1760, by Thomas Penn and Rich- 
ard Penn on the part of Pennsylvania, and Frederick, Lord 
Baltimore, on the part of Maryland, under the small seals of 
the Penns and the greater seal-at-arms of Lord Baltimore. 

12. This document, perhaps the most elaborate and ex- 
tensive of all the public treaties of America, is still in per- 
fect preservation at Annapolis, and of the seal placed upon 
it by Lord Baltimore, there is in existence a perfect engrav- 
ing, showing the true arms of the Calvert family. 

13. Commissioners were appointed under the several 
agreements between the heirs of Penn and Lord Baltimore, 
and under their supervision, the boundary lines between 
the provinces of Maryland and Pennsylvania (including 
Delaware) were laid down and run by Mason and Dixon and 
their predecessors between the years 1761 and 1767. The 
lines begin at what was formerly Cape Henlopen, the most 
eastern point of the peninsula seacoast, and terminate at the 
meridian of the first fountain of the Potomac River. They 
form and constitute the boundaries, first between Maryland 



124 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

and Delaware, then between Maryland and Pennsylvania, 
and all taken together are called " Mason and Dixon's line. 1 ' 

14. Through all her troubles of whatever kind the prov- 
ince of Maryland appeared to grow regularly and prosper. 

15. In 1751 it numbered about one hundred and forty 
thousand inhabitants, and in that year a town was erected 
on Potomac Rivei*, above the mouth of Rock Creek, destined 
to become next to Baltimore in commercial importance. It 
was erected upon sixty acres of ground, and called George 
Town. It was enacted that every house built in the town 
should cover at least four hundred square feet of ground, 
and be built with one good brick or stone chimney. 

16. The ancient name of the site of George Town is 
Tohoga, a name known to some of the tribes of the Indians 
of the Six Nations. The name signifies an entrance, open- 
ing, or gate — a place where sentinels are posted for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining the character of the persons coming 
into the country. 

17. It was considered an offense for any one to enter the 
country of the Indians, their towns or villages, 'at any point 
or place other than those designated for the purpose, and 
any person seen in their country who did not enter at the 
proper pass or entrance, was considered a suspicious char- 
acter, a spy, or enemy. 

18. The commissioners of Frederick County, authorized 
to survey and lay out George Town, were Captain Henry 
Wright Crabb, John Needham, John Clagett, James Perrie, 
Samuel Magruder, Josias Bealle, and David Lynn ; names 
not yet forgotten in Maryland. 

19. In 1751 the British Parliament adopted, in place of 
the Julian calendar, or " Old Style," the Gregorian, or 
" New Style," calendar. The act reads that the calendar, 
" according to which the year of our Lord begins on the 
25th of March, shall not be made use of after the last day 
of December, 1751, and the jirst day of January next follow- 



WAR THREATENED. 125 

ing the said last day of December shall be deemed the first 
day of the year of our Lord 1752." After the first day of 
January, 1752, Gregorian, or " New Style," dates appear on 
the public documents of Maryland. This is the calendar as 
reformed by Pope Gregory XIII. in 1582. 

20. Benjamin Tasker appeared as governor of Maryland 
at a session of the legislature which met on the 3d of June, 
1752, and Horatio Sharpe succeeded him at the November 
session of 1753. 

21. About this time the people of Maryland were great- 
ly alarmed on account of the conduct of the French gov- 
ernor of Canada, who was constructing lines of foi'ts along 
the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, in order to connect that 
colony with the French possessions in Louisiana. In doing 
this he encroached upon British territory and especially 
that claimed by Virginia. A war, called the French and 
Indian War, ensued, and Maryland became involved to some 
extent, mainly in self-defense. 

22. In 1754, however, the authorities of Maryland acted 
nobly in defense of the colony of Virginia. The command 
of all the forces raised, and to be raised against the French 
and Indians on the Ohio River, was conferred upon Gov- 
ernor Sharpe. It was enacted by the general assembly 
that six thousand pounds be paid to his Excellency Horatio 
Sharpe, Esq., for the service of his majesty, the king of 
England, toward the defense of the colony of Virginia, then 
attacked by the French and Indians ; and for the relief and 
support of the wives and children of the Indian allies that 
put themselves under the government. 

23. On the 24th of December, 1754, it was enacted that, 
" if any person or persons within the province of Maryland 
shall be so wounded or maimed in his majesty's service as to 
be made incajiable of maintaining themselves, he or they 
shall be supported at the public expense." 

24. At the February session, in 1755, acts were passed 



126 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

" for regulating the rates oi' carriage, quartering soldiers 
in public houses within the province, and for preventing 
the people from supplying the French or their Indian allies 
with ammunition, warlike stores, or provisions of any kind." 

25. General Braddock at this time was on his way to 
America with a large body of troops, intended for service 
on the frontiers of Maryland and Virginia. He landed at 
Alexandria, in Virginia, and there met a number of the 
colonial governors, who advised with him. In this council 
an expedition against Fort Duquesne, headed by General 
Braddock in person, was determined upon, and he began his 
march to that place from Alexandria over the soil of Mary- 
land. On the night of the first day of his march, he en- 
camped on the site of Rockville ; on the night of the sec- 
ond day, on the site of Barnesville ; and on the morning of 
the third, crossed Monocacy at the base of the Sugar-loaf 
Mountain, near Johnson's Old Furnace. This was on Ind- 
ian Ford. The waters at the place were generally shallow 
and calm, but at the time of Braddock's crossing they were 
high and turbulent, so much so that tradition has it he was 
forced to abandon one of his pieces of artillery, which, in 
time, was recovered from the river and melted in the old 
furnace. 

26. On the afternoon of the third day, he encamped at 
Frederick City, where Colonel Washington, of Virginia, 
joined him as aide-de-camp. 

27. In May, 1755, General Braddock marched from 
Frederick for Winchester, Virginia. Returning to the Po- 
tomac, he crossed into Maryland, and marched through the 
wilderness to Fort Cumberland. He crossed " where the 
Canalloway Creek empties into the same," and marched 
"through the dreariest, roughest mountain country eyes 
have ever seen." 

28. " A succession of mountains is on the right and left, 
and, as one disappears in the rear, two or three more appear 



DEATH OF BRADDOCK. 127 

in front, covered with rocks, scrub-pines, and jack-oaks of 
the meanest grade. The Potomac, once in a while appear- 
ing, affords for a moment a little comfort to the eye." 

29. " Immediately on the left of the river are the horrid 
mountains of Virginia, their great bald heads piercing the 
skies. The north and south branches of the Potomac here 
come together, kiss, and flow on to the sea. The junction 
forms a body of dead, still water for a half mile. At Old 
Town, the home of Cresap, the river relieves the eye for a 
short distance. This settlement is situated on a handsome 
level, but, oh, the horrid sentinels surrounding it ! " 

30. About the 1st of June, 1755, General Braddock and 
his forces arrived at Fort Cumberland, in the province of 
Maryland. The fort was described as having "full com- 
mand of the river, and up and down the same for about a half 
a mile. The river here makes a very quick, short bend in 
form of a horseshoe. The fort, standing outside of the 
shoe, at the toe of the same, gives command on both sides 
of the shoe, or otherwise up and down the river." 

31. On the 15th of June, Braddock and his army marched 
from Fort Cumberland, and on the 8th of July fell into an 
Indian ambuscade on the Monongahela. General Braddock 
was mortally wounded ; Colonel Washington, in rallying 
the Virginians and other provincials, had two horses shot 
under him and his uniform riddled with bullets. General 
Braddock soon died of his wound, and was buried by Colo- 
nel Washington in the middle of a road, that wagons might 
pass over his grave, to conceal it from the French and Ind- 
ians. This battle is generally known in history as " Brad- 
dock's Defeat." 

32. The outposts were driven in, and general lawlessness 
and murder spread along the western frontiers of Maryland. 
Many of the inhabitants fled to the eastward, some even as 
far as Annapolis and Baltimore. On receiving the news of 
Braddock's defeat, Governor Sharpe, at the head of a body 



128 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

of militia hastily equipped for the service, marched to the 
frontiers, but was almost powerless in checking the devasta- 
tions of the savages. Colonel Dagworthy, with a small body 
of soldiers, was in command of Fort Cumberland, yet could 
do but little for the relief and protection of the panic-stricken 
people around. The war brought to the surface, however, a 
number of partisan leaders or Indian fighters, among whom 
was Colonel Thomas Cresap, of Old Town. He was a man of 
great courage and skill ; he understood the Indian character, 
and pursued them into their hiding-places, dealing out de- 
struction as he proceeded. The enemy soon found that he was 
dealing with men worthy of his steel in the persons of Colonel 
Cresap, Colonel Ridgely, and Captain Alexander Beall, who 
opposed him, and arrested the panic among the settlers 
along the frontiers. 

33. In 1756 Governor Sharpe erected a fort on the site 
where Canalloway Creek empties into the Potomac River, 
and called it Fort Frederick, after Frederick, Lord Balti- 
more, then lord proprietary of the province of Maryland. 
It was, in August of that year, manned by two hundred 
men under the command of Colonel Dagworthy, who had 
retired from Fort Cumberland. 

34. For more than two years a sharp warfare continued 
on the western frontiers of Maryland, but in 1758 Fort 
Duquesne was captured by combined provincial forces, and 
the French and Indian wars were at an end. The name of 
the captured Fort Duquesne was changed to Fort Pitt, in 
honor of William Pitt, who in 1756 was British secretary of 
state, and whose genius planned the brilliant campaign that 
resulted in the overthrew of the French power in America. 

35. In 1758 an act was passed for the payment of money 
due to certain Cherokee Indians in the service of Maryland 
during the late wars, and an act for the payment of fifty 
pounds to Colonel Dagworthy for the scalp of an Indian 
enemy, killed by a Cherokee Indian in the English interest, 
on St. George's Creek, which sealp was purchased from the 



SEVERE ENACTMENTS AGAINST INDIANS. l^c) 

said Cherokee Indian by the said Colonel Dagworthy. 
Captain Evan Shelby was awarded the sum of fifty pounds, 
also, for the scalp of " Captain Charles," brother to Custoga, 
a Delaware Indian, commanding a party of warriors, who 
was killed in a skirmish near Loyal Hanning, on the 12th 
of November, 1758, by Captain Shelby, who commanded a 
company of Maryland volunteers. 

36. On account of these wars many severe enactments 
were made against the Indians who, during the continuance 
of and after the wars of 1755, resided in Maryland. Con- 
stables of hundreds in which there were Indian towns, were 
required every year to take an account of all the Indians 
residing therein, and, should the chief of the town refuse 
to give the information on this subject, it was made lawful 
to take him into custody and commit him to prison. Ind- 
ians traveling from town to town were required to take out 
passes, and, if discovered without a pass at the distance of 
ten miles from their respective towns, they might be seized 
and committed to prison. 

37. On the 21st of November, 1703, an act was passed 
authorizing the payment of fifty pounds to Daniel Cresap, 
Michael Cresap, John Walker, Nathan Figgs, William 
Young, Abraham Richardson, and Ezekiel Johnson " for 
the reward of a scalp taken by them from the party of Ind- 
ians who in July of that year attacked the house of Colonel 
Thomas Cresap." These persons engaged and routed the 
Indians, taking some of their arms, killing one, whose scalp 
they took, and wounding others. The same reward was 
also given to James Davis, of Virginia, who, in August of 
the same year, with others of the neighborhood, pursued a 
party of Indians from Cape Capon on the south side of the 
Potomac to George's Creek, in the province of Maryland, 
and there took the scalp of one of them, it being " the skin 
of the crown of his head." 

38. In this year it was also enacted by the provincial 



130 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

assembly that no person within the province should sell or 
give to any Indian woman or child any gunpowder, shot, 
or lead whatever, or, to any Indian man, more than one 
pound of gunpowder and six pounds of shot or lead at 
any one time oftener than once in six months. Indians 
" disaffected to the British interests in America" were for- 
bidden to come into Maryland as spies, or with any other 
evil design. 

39. The poor Indian was then contending with a race of 
people superior to his own ; with superior arms and with 
mind, the ruling power of the world. He was treading the 
rugged road downward to extinction, soon to meet the fate 
of the hapless " Mound Builders." These pre-Columbian 
pioneers entered the great wilderness of America before the 
time of the invention of gunpowder, the only force equal 
to that of the wild beast and the savage. They encoun- 
tered the wild beasts before the savage was fully developed 
and equipped for war. After long centuries of war with 
the monster quadrupeds of the wilderness they met the 
savage, and all that was left of them perished at the stone- 
point of the arrow. Some of them penetrated the wilder- 
ness as far to the eastward as the center of the province of 
Maryland. At a spring on Little Monocacy, about five miles 
from the place where this cool mountain stream discharges 
its waters into the Potomac, axes, chisels, augers, spear- 
heads, arrow-points, drills, and pieces of curious pottery 
have been found deeply imbedded in mud and sand. Some 
of these implements were of native copper, and some of 
stone, so well wrought out that from them the evidence 
was readily adduced that a race of people superior to the 
Indians was once in possession of a part of the soil of Mary- 
land. 

40. It appears that this strange people, pursued by dan- 
gers in the rear, crossed into Maryland from Virginia at or 
near the mouth of Little Monocacy, and sought a place of 



VESTIGES OF THE "MOUND-BUILDERS." \%\ 

safety in the Sugar-loaf Mountain. On the summit of this 
mountain, overlooking the bed of the Potomac River, pieces 
of strange pottery, charcoal, and small sticks of wood partly 
burnt have been found imbedded at the distance of six feet 
below the surface of the ground. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
1763-1775. 

Wars of 1763.— Taxation in America.— " The Stamp Act."— Tax on Tea.— 
Death of Frederick, Lord Baltimore. — The " Maryland Journal." — The 
Peggy Stewart destroyed. 

1. In 1763 constitutional law was debated and expounded 
in Maryland, and new ideas were advanced with respect to 
taxation and representation. 

2. The British government appeared to favor a plan of 
charging up the expenses of the late wars in America to the 
colonies. This created much alarm in Maryland, as well as 
opposition to the English ministry, and the people firmly 
maintained the ground that they could be taxed only by 
their consent. This was the beginning of the trouble con- 
cerning taxation in the colonies of America ; it was an 
outgrowth from the wars of 1755, and turned out to be 
very unfortunate as far as the British nation was concerned ; 
yet the ministry went steadily on to mature a plan for tax- 
ing the people of the colonies, who were not represented in 
Parliament. They soon began to cast aside the maxims of 
prudence ; and, with an eye steadily fixed on freedom, re- 
solved to systematize an opposition to the growing tyranny 
of the mother country. 

3. On the 22d of March, 1765, the British Parliament 
passed an act known as the " stamp act." On the arrival 
of the news in the colonies, a congress, called the " stamp 
act congress," was called to meet in New York, on the 
first Tuesday in October of that year, to consult upon the 



TAXATION IN AMERICA. 133 

difficulties to which the colonies of America were and might 
be reduced by the operation of the act of Parliament for 
levying duties and taxes upon them. 

4. The lower house of the assembly of Maryland ap- 
pointed William Murdock, Edward Tilghman, and Thomas 
Ringgold delegates to this congress, and instructed them 
that they were to repair to New York, and there join the 
committees from houses of representatives of the other 
colonies. They were to join in a general, united, loyal, and 
humble representation to the king of England and the Par- 
liament of the circumstances and conditions of the British 
colonies and plantations, and to pray relief from the re- 
straints laid upon their trade and commerce. 

5. They were instructed further to make special prayer 
for relief from the taxes imposed by an act of the last 
session of Parliament, applying certain stamp duties and 
other duties in the British colonies and plantations in 
America. 

6. The congress met at the appointed time, and de- 
clared in their petition to the " knights, citizens, and bur- 
gesses of Great Britain in Parliament assembled," that the 
several late acts of Parliament imposing duties and taxes on 
the colonies, and laying their trade and commerce under 
burdensome restrictions, had filled the people with the deep- 
est concern and surprise, but, above all, the act for grant- 
ing and applying certain stamp duties in America. 

7. They declared that they conceived the execution of 
these laws would be attended with consequences very inju- 
rious to the commercial interests of Great Britain and her 
colonies, and must terminate in the eventual ruin of the 
latter. 

8. The people of Maryland, as well as those of the other 
colonies, expressed their deep sorrow that they found them- 
selves deprived of the right of granting "their own prop- 
erty " for the king's service, to which their lives and fortunes 



134 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

were entirely devoted, and to which, upon his royal require- 
ments, they had been ready to contribute to the utmost of 
their abilities. 

9. They conceived that the Parliament, adhering strictly 
to the principles of the constitution, had never hitherto 
taxed any but those who were therein actually represented. 
For this reason they had never taxed Ireland or any of their 
subjects outside the realm. 

10. They declared that the provincial legislature had 
been molded into forms nearly resembling that of the 
mother country, that the subjects in the colonies might en- 
joy the happy fruits of the British government. Under 
these forms of government the people of Maryland and 
their ancestors had been born, and their lives, their liberties, 
and property had been protected. They retained a great 
fondness for their old customs and usages, and they con- 
ceived that the king's service and the interests of the Brit- 
ish nation had been vastly promoted by the provincial leg- 
islatures. 

11. They prayed, therefore, that the house of Parlia- 
ment might be pleased to hear their petition, and take their 
case into consideration ; and that the acts and clauses of 
acts, so grievously restraining their trade and commerce, 
imposing duties and taxes on their property, and extending 
the jurisdiction of the court of admiralty beyond its an- 
cient limits, might be repealed. 

12. The passage of the stamp act was clearly an in- 
fringement upon Lord Baltimore's charter, which was the 
constitution of Maryland, the only provincial one she ever 
had, and the authorities under it constituted the only power 
competent to tax the people. The court of Frederick 
County declared the stamp act to be unconstitutional, and 
a procession, bearing a black coffin, marched through the 
streets in funeral order. Upon the coffin was inscribed, 
" The stamp act expired of a mortal stab received from the 



"THE STAMP ACT." 135 

Genius of Liberty, in Frederick County Court, 23d Novem- 
ber, 1765." 

13. The stamp act required the people of the colonies in 
America to buy stamps at high rates from the British gov- 
ernment, to be attached to all their business paper, public 
and private, in order to make it valid in law ; and no paper, 
therefore, was to be good and lawful unless it was stamped. 
By the sale of these stamps in America the British minis- 
try thought they would raise a large sum of money from 
the people to pay the expenses of the colonial wars, and 
have some left to support the English crown. 

14. The people of Maryland were represented in no leg- 
islative body save the two houses of assembly held under 
the auspices of Lord Baltimore's chartered government, and 
they therefore refused to pay taxes to any government in 
whose legislative halls they had no representation. They 
opposed the distribution of British stamps in Maryland, 
formed themselves into associations called " sons of lib- 
erty," drove the stamp distributors from the province, and 
warned all the officials at Annapolis not to attempt the ex- 
ecution of the stamp act anywhere upon the soil covered by 
Lord Baltimore's charter. 

15. The act was never enforced in Maryland, and on the 
18th of March, 1766, through the instrumentality of Wil- 
liam Pitt, it was repealed by an act of Parliament. Soon 
after the repeal of this act the English government con- 
ceived a plan to tax the colonies of America without giving 
oifense to the people. 

16. In 1767 an act was passed imposing a duty on tea 
and some other articles shipped to America, under the pre- 
tense of regulating commerce on the plan laid down in the 
British constitution. As soon as the news of the passage of 
this act arrived in Maryland, the ladies bid farewell to the 
" tea-board with its gaudy equipage of cups and saucers, 
cream buckets, and sugar tongs." Many a joyous moment 



136 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

had been spent at the tea-table ; the girls chatted ; the 
spruce beaux laughed, perhaps at nothing ; but no longer 
was the once-loved beverage drunk. It was now detest- 
able, because the ladies were taught to believe it would 
fasten slavish claims upon the people of the colony, and 
Liberty was the goddess they chose to reign triumphantly 
in Maryland. 

17. The people of Maryland, at the instance of certain 
merchants and others at Annapolis, formed themselves into 
societies opposed to the importation of " superfluities " from 
Great Britain and her colonies. When a ship, laden with 
" obnoxious articles," as they w r ere called, or such as were 
taxed by the act of 1767, arrived at Annapolis, it was re- 
solved that the goods should not be landed. The duty on all 
the articles named in the act of 1767 was finally taken off by 
an act of Parliament, except the duty on tea, and the detes- 
tation of this article therefore became general and intense. 
It was dangerous to use it in secret ; for, on a certain occa- 
sion, when a lady had invited a party of her friends to pass 
an evening in a private room up stairs, where they were to re- 
gale themselves with a dish of forbidden tea, her husband 
quietly stole up and dropped a piece of tobacco into the tea- 
kettle. 

18. On the 17th of November, 1769, Robert Eden, Es- 
quire, appeared at the meeting of the legislature on that day, 
and took the chair and oath of office as governor of Mary- 
land. A law was passed authorizing the issue of paper 
money, called " bills of credit," to the amount of three hun- 
dred and eighteen thousand dollars. Two commissioners 
were appointed to superintend the issuing of this money. 
They were required to constantly attend the press, to see 
that the money was well printed and taken care of. Par- 
ticular directions were given them for preventing fraud or 
misconduct on the part of the printer and his servants, 
who were put under the obligation of an oath for the faith- 



THE EMISSION OF PAPER MONEY. 137 

ful performance of their duty. They were to incur severe 
penalties for any offense against the law ; and to counter- 
feit any of the bills, forge any bills of exchange, and offer 
such counterfeits or forgeries in payment of debts, or pass 
them in any other way as a currency, was made a capital 
offense. 

19. When the printing was done, the commissioners were 
to sign and number bills to the amount of three hundred 
thousand dollars. The signed bills were to be placed in 
one of the iron chests in the paper currency office, having 
two locks of different construction. Each commissioner was 
to keep one key, to the intent that no one of them might 
have access to the money unless in the presence of the other. 

20. This emission of paper money was for the purpose 
of making loans to the inhabitants of Maryland only, and 
was loaned in sums ranging from one hundred to one thou- 
sand dollars, during the first six months bearing interest at 
the rate of four per cent, per annum. 

21. In 1769 the sum of seven thousand five hundred 
pounds was appropriated to pay for the building of the new 
state-house at Annapolis, and Daniel Dulaney, Thomas 
Johnson, John Hall, William Paca, Charles Carroll, barris- 
ter, Lancelot Jacques, and Charles Wallace were appointed 
to superintend the same. The building was to contain two 
rooms for the upper and lower house of assembly, a room 
for the provincial court, two jury rooms, four committee 
rooms, and repositories for the records of the two houses, 
of the court of chancery, the court of appeals, the pro- 
vincial court, the prerogative court, and the land office. 
The parade around the building was to be laid with stone 
or gravel, and inclosed with iron palisades, to be fixed on a 
good stone or brick wall. The expense of all this was not 
to exceed five hundred pounds sterling. 

22. Turning again to political events, it will be seen that 
at this time they were unmistakably leading in the direction 



138 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

of war ; great suras of paper money, thrown upon the pro- 
vincial markets, prepared the way to hostilities, and issues 
had already been made, both in England and America, from 
which no backward steps could be honorably taken. 

23. On the 5th of March, 1770, a riot took place in the 
streets of Boston, in which British soldiers shot down sev- 
eral peaceable citizens of the town. An orator described 
the scene. " Language is too feeble," said he, " to paint 
the emotion of our souls when our streets are stained with 
the blood of our brethren'." The people of Boston were 
then suffering in the common cause of all the colonies of 
America, and Maryland clamored for a chief to lead her on 
to deeds of immortal daring. She had chiefs born on her 
own soil as noble and as brave as chiefs could be, but the 
time had not yet come for deeds of daring in the held. 

24. On the 14th of September, 1771, Frederick, Lord 
Baltimore, died at Naples, in Italy, leaving no heir on whom 
his baronial titles could lawfully descend. He was the 
seventh, and the last, of the Lords Baltimore, and at his 
death the title became extinct. He bequeathed the prov- 
ince of Maryland to Henry Harford, Esq., who was styled 
" the right honorable the lord proprietary of the province 
of Maryland," but not " lord baron of Baltimore in the 
kingdom of Ireland." 

25. At the November session of the legislature in 1773, 
it was enacted that, after the 2d of March, 1774, " all that 
part of Baltimore County which is included within the 
bounds following, to wit : beginning at the mouth of the 
Little Falls of Gunpowder River, and running with the 
said falls to the fountain-head, and from thence north to 
the temporary line of this province, and thence with the 
temporary line to the Susquehanna River, thence with Sus- 
quehanna to Chesapeake Bay, and thence with the said 
bay, including Spesutia and Pool's Islands, to the mouth of 
Gunpowder River, and thence up said river to the begin- 



THE "MARYLAND JOURNAL." 13[) 

ning aforesaid, shall be, and is hereby erected into a new 
county, by the name of Harford County." 

26. This county was named in honor of Henry Harford, 
Esq., to whom Frederick, Lord Baltimore, devised the prov- 
ince of Maryland, and the county seat was called Harford 
Town (now Bel Air). 

27. The tax on tea shipped to the colonies of America 
was not yet taken off by any act of Parliament ; ships with 
tea on board now and then arrived in American ports ; fiery 
expressions of opinion were made concerning them, and a 
number were sent back with all their cargo to the country 
whence they sailed. 

28. On the 16th of December, 1773, a number of per- 
sons disguised as Mohawk Indians seized tAvo hundred and 
forty-two chests of tea, on board ship in Boston harbor, and 
threw their contents overboard. 

29. In this year William Goddard established a news- 
paper in Baltimore, called the " Maryland Journal," the 
first number of which he issued on the 20th of August. 
The regular, issue of this paper, which ought to have ap- 
peared on the 18th, was delayed until the 30th of Decem- 
ber, to wait for some stirring news, so that the old year 
might depart in splendor. 

30. " Yesterday evening," said the editor, " one of the 
post riders established by the printer of this paper arrived 
here, and we have for some time delayed publishing this 
paper in hopes of being able to close the old year with 
kclat, which we now have the pleasure of doing by the 
publication of the unexampled, spirited, and noble conduct 
of our brave countrymen, who disdain to wear the chain, 
and who are unalterably determined to be free." 

31. In this month the following fiery words were pub- 
lished in the papers of Maryland : " Friends ! Brethren ! 
Countrymen ! that worst of plagues, the detested tea, is 
now arrived in the harbor of Boston. The hour of destruc- 



140 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

tion or manly opposition to the machinations of tyranny 
stares yon in the face ! Every friend to his country, to 
himself and posterity, is now called upon to make a united 
and successful resistance to this last, worst, and most de- 
structive measure of administration." 

32. Dating the 17th of December, 1773, a writer from 
Boston wrote that, " Yesterday we had a greater meeting of 
the body of the people than ever, and in a little time every 
ounce of tea on board the ships in the harbor was immersed 
in the bay without the least injury to private property. 
The spirit of the people on the occasion surprised all par- 
ties who viewed the scene. Another vessel laden with 
fifty-eight chests of tea was bilged on the back of Cape 
Cod." 

33. On the 22d of June, 1774, " committees appointed 
by the several counties of the province of Maryland " met 
at Annapolis, to deliberate upon " the letter and vote of 
the town of Boston, several papers from Philadelphia and 
Virginia, the act of Parliament for blockading the port 
and harbor of Boston, the bill pending in Parliament sub- 
versive of the charter of Massachusetts Bay, and that en- 
abling the governor to send supposed offenders from thence 
to another colony or to England for trial." 

34. This convention took into its hands the government 
of Maryland. The last legislature under the proprietary 
rule of Henry Harford, Esq., and Robert Eden, his governor, 
assembled at Annapolis on the 23d of March, and adjourned 
on the 19th of April, 1774. The last act passed by this 
legislature was one for the relief of insolvent debtors. 

35. On the 14th of October, less than one year after the 
destruction of the tea in Boston harbor, the ship Peggy 
Stewart arrived at Annapolis, having some of that " ob- 
noxious article " on board. The people of Maryland had 
at hand a chief to lead them on to deeds of daring in the 
person of Charles Carroll of Carrollton ; and by his advice 



A CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT. 14-1 

the owner of the ship ran her on the shore, at Windmill 
Point, Annapolis, and set fire to hoth ship and cargo, in 
presence of the excited multitude of people on shore. So 
determined were the brave Marylanders that they would 
not be taxed, save by their own consent, they destroyed the 
article taxed, all undisguised and in the face of day. 

36. From the time of the meeting of the " committees," 
on the 22d of June, 1774, the proprietary government of 
Maryland was powerless, for there was no authority in the 
province save that derived from the people through their 
conventions and committees. A republican form of govern- 
ment was assumed by the convention of delegates assem- 
bled at Annapolis, on the 22d of June, and that body ap- 
pointed Matthew Tilghman, Samuel Chase, William Paca, 
Thcmas Johnson, and Robert Goldsborough, to represent 
the people of Maryland in a general congress composed of 
delegates from all the colonies of America, to be held in 
Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1774. This con- 
gress met, according to appointment, and passed a series 
of resolutions against the importation of British goods into 
the colonies, setting forth, at the same time, the grievances 
as well as the rights of the people in America. 

37. The death of the last of the Lords Baltimore, in 
1771, appeared to break the chain which bound the people 
of Maryland to foreign allegiance, and grave thoughts con- 
cerning independence took possession of their minds. From 
their palatine government, backward steps into an absolute 
monarchy were taken with some difficulty, but those in the 
direction of a republican form of government appeared 
easy and natural. 

38. The convention of Maryland which, as before stated, 
assembled at Annapolis on the 22d of June, 1774, placed 
Matthew Tilghman in the chair as president, and John 
Ducket was chosen to act as clerk. The first resolution 
passed by this convention was, in effect, thai; the act of Par- 



142 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

liament which blockaded the port of Boston, and other 
pending bills, if passed into acts, were cruel and oppressive 
invasions of the natural rights of the people of Massachu- 
setts Bay as men, and that the said act, if not repealed, 
and the said bills, if passed into acts, will lay a foundation 
for the utter destruction of British America, and, therefore, 
the town of Boston and the province of Massachusetts are 
suffering in the common cause of America. 

39. The people of Maryland were fully sensible of the 
fact that they would have many difficulties to encounter in 
breaking off their commercial intercourse with the mother 
country, and they were deeply affected on account of the 
distress which might be brought upon many of their fellow- 
subjects in Great Britain, yet their affection and regard for 
an injured and oppressed sister colony, their duty to them- 
selves, their posterity, and their country, demanded the 
sacrifice. They therefore resolved that the people of Ma- 
ryland join in an association with the other principal and 
neighboring colonies to put an end to all exportations and 
importations from Great Britain until the said acts and 
bills, if passed into acts, be repealed. 

40. After the adjournment of the general or Continen- 
tal Congress, which met in Philadelphia on the 5th of Sep- 
tember, the convention of Maryland met again at Annapolis 
on the 21st of November, 1774, and resolved "that every 
member would, and every person in the province ought, 
strictly and inviolably, observe, and carry into execution 
the association agreed on by the said Continental Con- 
gress " ; and they recommended that, during the present 
time of public calamity, balls or dancing parties be discon- 
tinued in the province of Maryland. 

41. On the 8th of December, in the same year, the con- 
vention of Maryland met again at Annapolis, and recom- 
mended that no persons except members of the different 
committees should undertake to meddle with or determine 



ORGANIZATION OF THE MILITIA. 443 

any question respecting the construction of the association 
entered into by the Continental Congress. They also passed 
a resolution to the effect that, if the late acts of Parliament 
relative to the Massachusetts Bay should be attempted to 
be carried into execution by force in that colony, or if the 
assumed power of Parliament to tax the colonies should be 
attempted to be carried out in like manner, in that or any 
other colony, the province of Maryland would support such 
colony to the utmost of its power. 

42. They declared that a well-regulated militia, com- 
posed of the gentlemen, freeholders, and other freemen, was 
the natural strength and only stable security of a free gov- 
ernment, and that such militia would relieve the mother 
country from any expense in the defense and protection of 
the colonies. They declared further that such a militia 
would obviate the. pretense of a necessity for taxing them 
on that account, and render it unnecessary to keep a stand- 
ing army, ever dangerous to liberty, in the province. 

43. These views, so firmly expressed and maintained by 
the people of Maryland in convention, amounted to a con- 
ditional declaration of war against Great Britain, and event, 
presaging a storm of war, followed event in rapid succes- 
sion. It was recommended by the convention that such of 
the freemen of Maryland as were from sixteen to fifty 
years of age, should form themselves into companies of 
sixty-eight men, and elect a captain, two lieutenants, an 
ensign, four sergeants, four corporals, and one drummer, 
for each company, and use their utmost endeavors to make 
themselves masters of the military art ; that each man be 
provided with a good firelock and bayonet fixed thereon, 
half a pound of powder, two pounds of lead, a bag for balls, 
and a powder-horn. 

44. From this time burnished arms glittered in the 
mild sunlight of Maryland, the noise of the busy gunshop 
and powder-mill grated on the ear, and the wild, dreary 



[44 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

chorus of war arose above the soft melodies of the senti- 
mental song. 

45. During the winter of 1774 little other than prepara- 
tions for war was thought of, and in the early spring of 
1775 the outlook was still gloomy. The provincial conven- 
tion met again on the 24th of April, in this year, and on 
the 28th received the hews of the battle of Lexington, in 
Massachusetts, which took place on the 19th of the same 
month. 

46. The British government, having sent a numerous 
army of soldiers to Boston, and having cut off all communi- 
cation with the surrounding country, saw at length that it 
had failed to compel the people to submit to the oppressive 
acts of Parliament, and an order was given by General Gage 
that troops be sent out to seize the military stores belong- 
ing to the provincials at Concord and Lexington. 

47. A battle took place, in which twelve hundred of the 
king's troops were engaged with seventy of the armed pro- 
vincials. Reenforcements arrived rapidly, and the British 
troops were soon driven back into Boston with a loss of 
about three hundred men. The Americans, it is said, had 
about forty killed and wounded, and four or five taken 
prisoners. The first blood of revolution was poured out at 
this battle, and it was not to cease to flow until indepen- 
dence of the crown of Britain was fully established upon the 
continent. 

48. " The Americans may be led with a hair," said a 
gentleman of Maryland to the Earl of Dartmouth, "but 
they have too much English blood in them, are too well 
disciplined, and too numerous, to be driven. Where govern- 
ment can produce one thousand on the continent, America, 
with as much ease, can produce ten thousand in opposition ; 
for women and children, throughout the united colonies, are 
against the proceedings of administration to a wonderful 
majority. 



MARYLAND ARMING. 145 

49. " Last summer I saw a company of school-boys, 
called the Academy Company, in their uniforms, with real 
arms and colors. I was told by a lady that they were to 
learn the theory and art of war, and, if there should be any 
occasion for them in the field of battle, they will go, for 
they are volunteers ; ' I, for my part, am heartily willing to 
sacrifice my sons, believing that with such sacrifice God is 
pleased.' This, my lord, is the language of the American 
women ; but your lordship knows that it is generally the 
reverse with the English, for the mothers' and sisters' lives 
are bound up in the boys." 

50. The inhabitants of Maryland, in their constitution 
called the "association of the freemen of Maryland," de- 
clared that they were firmly persuaded that it was justifiable 
to repel force by force ; and approved of the opposition by 
arms to the British troops employed to enforce obedience to 
the late acts of the British Parliament. They were keenly 
aware of the design of the British government to raise a 
revenue from their property without their consent or repre- 
sentation in Parliament. The doctrine of " taxation without 
representation " was new to the people, and they regarded 
it as a violation of the constitutions of all the colonies, as 
destructive of all the essential securities of life, liberty, 
and property, as well as a stepping-stone to that unlimited 
power which aimed a death-blow at all the provincial char- 
ters in America. 

51. For the express purpose of securing and defending 
the united colonies, the brave Marylanders resolved that 
the said colonies be put into a state of defense, and that an 
army be organized at the joint expense to restrain the 
further violence and repel the future attacks of a disap- 
pointed and exasperated enemy. 

52. Proceeding to legislate over the heads of Henry Har- 
ford, Esq., lord proprietary of the province, and Robert Eden, 
bis governor, the convention of the people resolved to issue 

1 



14B THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

paper money of the denomination of dollars and cents, or 
other parts of a dollar, that this money might be different 
from the sterling money of Great Britain, which was known 
as pounds, shillings, and pence. Money to the amount of 
$2GG,G66.66§ was ordered to be printed and struck with all 
convenient speed, under the care and direction of Thomas 
Hyde and William Wilkins. They had now declared war, 
treated for peace, issued money, and they were therefore a 
free and independent people, separated from the dominion 
of the lord proprietary and from all allegiance to the Brit- 
ish crown. To support the ground taken, however, their 
blood and treasure were yet to be offered up on the altars 
of liberty which they had so firmly erected, and duty to 
themselves, to the rest of mankind, and to posterity de- 
manded every sacrifice in tones not to be disregarded. They 
built not for themselves alone. 

53. On the 15th of June, 1775, Thomas Johnson, of 
Maryland, then a member of the Continental Congress, nomi- 
nated George Washington, of Virginia, as commander-in- 
chief of all the forces raised or to be raised in America in 
opposition to the British crown. The noble conduct of 
Colonel Washington in the wars of 1755 had not been for- 
gotten in Maryland. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

1775-1777. 

The Kevolutionaiy War. — General Washington. — Maryland Troops. — The 
Maryland Line. — Battle of Long Island. — Charles Carroll of Carrollton. — 
The Great Seal of Maryland. 

1. Early in the year 1775 military companies, called 
" minute-men," committees of safety, and committees of ob- 
servation, were fully organized in all the counties of Mai*y- 
land, and on the 17th of June in that year a battle between 
the British and Americans was fought in the province of 
Massachusetts, at a place called Bunker Hill. 

2. On the 3d of July in this year General Washington, 
under an elm-tree at Cambridge, Massachusetts, formally 
took the command of the continental army. In the same 
year two companies from Maryland were organized, one 
under the command of Michael Cresap, captain, Thomas 
Warren, Joseph Cresap, and Richard Davis, lieutenants ; 
and the other under that of Thomas Price, captain, Otho 
Holland Williams and John Ross Key, lieutenants. Cre- 
sap's men were armed and painted like Indians. Some 
marched from Old Town, the home of Cresap, others from 
different portions of Western' Maryland, and at Frederick 
they organized, drilled, and gave remarkable exhibitions of 
their skill as riflemen. On the second day they marched 
from Frederick to the place where the old Frederick road 
crosses the Patapsco River, near the Friends' burying- 
ground, a short distance above Ellicott City. 

:>. In January, 1776, Lord Dunmore, late governor of 



148 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Virginia, adhering to the royal cause, began to give trouble 
in some of the lower counties of Maryland, and several com- 
panies of minute-men organized in the province were sent 
to oppose him. He was, however, silenced without giving 
much trouble to the people ; and in the face of invasion of 
their rights and liberties as a people, they expressed senti- 
ments of affection for their king and mother country. 

4. " The experience we and our ancestors have had/' 
said their representatives in convention, " of the mildness 
and equity of the English constitution, under which we have 
grown up and enjoyed a state of felicity, until the grounds 
of the present controversy were laid by the ministry and 
Parliament of Great Britain, has most strongly endeared to 
us that form of government from whence these blessings 
are derived. It makes us ardently wish for a reconciliation 
with the mother country, upon terms that may insure to 
these colonies an equal and lasting freedom." 

5. They instructed their delegates in Congress that, 
should any proposition be happily made by the crown or 
Parliament that might lay a rational ground for reconcilia- 
tion, they would use their utmost endeavors to cultivate and 
improve it into a happy settlement and lasting amity. 

6. They further instructed them that they would net, 
without the previous knowledge and approbation of the 
convention of the province, assent to any proposition to de- 
clare the colonies independent of the crown of Great Brit- 
ain, nor to any proposition for entering into alliance with 
any foreign power, nor to any union of the colonies which 
might lead to a separation from the mother country, unless 
in their judgments it should be thought necessary for the 
preservation of the liberties of the united colonies. 

7. On the 14th of January, 1776, the convention re- 
solved to raise one battalion of regnlar troops for the de- 
fense of the liberties of the province, and William Small- 
wood was appointed colonel of said battalion, Francis Ware, 



ACTION OF THE CONVENTION, 149 

lieutenant-colonel, Thomas Price, first major, and Mordecai 
Gist, second major. 

8. On the 18th of the same month the convention en- 
tered on its journal that the people of the province, strongly 
attached to the English constitution, and truly sensible of 
the blessings they have derived from it, warmly impressed 
with sentiments of affection for, and loyalty to, the house 
of Hanover, connected to the British nation by the ties of 
blood and interest, and being convinced that to be free 
subjects of the king of Great Britain is to be the freest 
members of any civil society in the known world, never 
did, nor do, entertain any views or desires of independency. 
Descended from Britons, entitled to the privileges of Eng- 
lishmen, and inheriting the spirit of their ancestors, they 
have seen with the most extreme anxiety the attempts of 
Parliament to deprive them of those privileges, by raising 
a revenue upon them, and assuming a power to alter the 
charters^ constitutions, and internal polity of the colonies 
without their consent. The endeavors of the British minis- 
try to carry these attempts into execution by military force, 
have been their only motive for taking up arms, and to de- 
fend themselves against these endeavors is the only use 
they mean to make of them. Entitled to freedom, they are 
determined to maintain it at the hazard of their lives and 
fortunes. 

9. On the 9th of May, 1776, the proceedings of the 
council of safety, in consequence of intercepted letters from 
Lord George Germain to Robert Eden, deputy governor of 
Maryland, were laid before the convention, read, and or- 
dered to lie on the table. In these letters the governor was 
instructed to consider of every means by which he might, 
in conjunction with Lord Dunmore, give facility and assist- 
ance to the operation of a naval armament to be sent to 
North Carolina, and from thence to South Carolina or Vir- 
ginia. The convention declared that the governor, if he 



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oommit ted by her captain ; but i1 was the opi i the 

convention thai the Dofenoe .^ 1 1 « > i ■ I < I not attack tho Fowoy, 
Mini detachments of militia were sent to prevenl any coin 
munioations with her from the shores of i he province, 

L8, In this month il was resolved thai three thousand 
four hundred and Ave men of the Maryland militia be de 
tailed to form 8 "flying oamp," to aol with the militia ol 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, and General Resin Beall was 
appointed to 1 lie oommand 

II. On iIm' 8th of July, 1776, the convention of the 
people, in session al Annapolis; instructed their delegates 

in Congress in Philadelphia as to the terms of a deolaral 

ol independence into which thej win- willing to onter, 
"We, the delegates of Maryland in convention assem 
bled," said they, as appears in their |ournal, "do declare 
thai ill*' Km" of Great Britain has violated bis oompacl 
wiiii this people, and that thej owe no allogianoo to him. 
we have, therefore, thought ii lust and nooossan to em 
power one deputies in Congress to join with ;i raajoritj of 
(In- united oolonies in declaring them free and independent 
si :ii cm, provided the sole Bind exclusive rights of regulating 
the internal politj and government of this colony !><■ re 
served to I ho peoplo i hcroof," 

10, On the Ith of Julj in that year, at half-past throe 
o'clock, however, tho Declaration of [ndepoudonoe had 

l i.i id the C< ross of the United Colonies sitting in I * I > ■ 1 

adelphia , and MaiM land, no I er :i provinoe oi a o »lony, 

look position as one of tho Independent States oi America, 

ii>. " \\'c hold these truths to !><• Helf evident," reads tho 
seoond paragraph of the Declaration, "that all men are ore 
ated equal; that thej are endowed by their Creator with 
certain inalienable rights; thai among those are life, lil» 
cti \ , Mini the pursuit of happiness, That, to secure those 
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from tho consent of thw govorned, That, 



152 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

when any form of government becomes destructive of these 
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and 
to institute a new government." 

17. Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, and 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, as members of Congress, had 
the honor to be Maryland's immortal signers of the Decla- 
ration of American Independence. 

18. On the 4th of July, 1776, Thomas Johnson was elect- 
ed to Congress by the convention of Maryland ; but on the 
same day it was discovered that he could not act in this 
capacity, and at the same time do duty as brigadier in the 
military service, to which rank he had been previously ap- 
pointed. The convention expressed the opinion that it was 
of very great importance to the welfare of the province that 
it should not be deprived of the advice and assistance of 
Mr. Johnson in the public councils of the united colonies, 
and that his place could be supplied with less inconvenience 
in the military than in the civil department. 

19. On the 6th of July, the second day after the adop- 
tion or passage of the Declaration of Independence, the con- 
vention of the state of Maryland ordered " that Colonel 
Small wood immediately proceed with his battalion to the 
city of Philadelphia, and put himself under the continental 
officer commanding there, and be subject to the further or- 
ders of the Congress." 

20. On the 10th of the same month Smallwood's regi- 
ment and some companies from Baltimore marched from 
Maryland by way of the head of Elk, and embarked for the 
north to join Lord Stirling's brigade. 

21. The history of Maryland for the year 1776 is no- 
thing more than long accounts of preparations for war ; for 
the Declaration of Independence could only be supported 
by the arms of the United States and the treasure of the 
people. 

22. The battle of Long Island took place on the 27th of 



THE BOUNDARIES OF WASHINGTON COUNTY. 153 

August, 1776, and resulted in the defeat of the Americans. 
The troops of the Maryland line fought bravely in this bat- 
tle. They were placed in front of the line of battle under 
the command of Major Mordecai Gist, Colonel Smalhvood 
and Lieutenant-Colonel Ware being at the time sitting on 
a court-martial in New York. 

23. On the 6th of September, in this memorable year, 
the boundaries of Washington County were described by 
the convention of Maryland as follows : " Beginning at the 
place where the temporary line crosses the South Mountain, 
and running thence by a line on the ridge of the said moun- 
tain to the river Potomac, and thence with the lines of the 
said county so as to include all the lands to the westward 
of the line running on the ridge of the South Mountain, as 
aforesaid to the beginning, shall be, and is hereby, erected 
into a new county by the name of Washington County " ; 
and on the same day the convention enacted that, " after the 
first day of October next, such part of the county of Fred- 
erick as is contained in the bounds beginning at the east 
side of the mouth of Rock Creek, on the Potomac River, 
and running with the said river to the mouth of Monocacy, 
thence with a straight line to Parr's Spring, and thence with 
the lines of the county to the beginning, shall be, and is 
hereby, erected into a new county by the name of Mont- 
gomery County." 

24. This county was named in honor of General 
Richard Montgomery, who, on the 31st of December, 1775, 
yielded up his life in the heroic attempt to rescue the Can- 
adas from the dominion of Great Britain, and win them to 
the struggling cause of self-government in the American 
colonies. 

25. It is worthy of commendation that Maryland adopt- 
ed the honored names of Washington and Montgomery for 
these new counties at a time when Washington, with a 
price upon his head, was weeping over ihe carnage of the 



154 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Maryland line on the heights of Brooklyn, and Montgomery 
was tilling a hero's grave on the plains of Quebec. One 
had given his life to his adopted country, and the other 
daily offered himself, his fortune, and his sacred honor, as a 
willing sacrifice. 

26. The convention of Maryland dedicated her terri- 
tory, her sons, and their estates, to the defense of the rights 
and liberties of her people. She never wavered in her reso- 
lution, but filled battalion after battalion. From Long 
Island to the Carolinas, the Maryland line maintained a 
reputation for discipline and valor ; their name was the 
synonym of every soldierly virtue — an honor to the living 
and the dead. The moral courage, the constancy, energy, 
cooperation, and self-denying sacrifices of the people were 
equally sublime. 

27. On the 31st of October, 1776, the convention of 
Maryland passed and adopted a declaration of rights. The 
inhabitants of this state, they said, are entitled to all prop- 
erty derived to them from or under the charter granted by 
his Majesty Charles I. to Cecilius Calvert, Baron of Balti- 
more. 

28. They declared that government of right originates 
from the people, is founded in compact only, and instituted 
solely for the good of the whole. That the people of the 
state ought to have the sole and exclusive right of regulat- 
ing the internal government and policy thereof. The right 
of the people to participate in the legislatui-e is the best 
security of liberty and the foundation of all free govern- 
ment ; for this purpose elections ought to be free and fre- 
quent, and every man having property in, a common in- 
terest with, and an attachment to the community, ought to 
have a right of suffrage. That the trial of facts where they 
arise is one of the greatest securities of the lives, liberties, 
and estates of the people. That no man ought to be com- 
pelled to give evidence against himself in a court of com- 



UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF THE CONSTITUTION. 155 

mon law, or in any other court, but in such cases only as have 
been usually practiced in the state. A long continuance in 
the first executive departments of power or trust is danger- 
ous to liberty ; a rotation, therefore, in those departments is 
one of the best securities of permanent freedom. That it is 
the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he 
thinks most acceptable to him, and all persons professing 
the Christian religion are equally entitled to protection in 
their religious liberty. That the liberty of the press ought 
to be inviolably preserved ; and that monopolies are odious, 
contrary to the spirit of a free government and the princi- 
ples of commerce, and ought not to be suffered. That no 
title of nobility or hereditary honors ought to be granted in 
the state. 

29. Such are some of the great principles that under- 
lie the constitutions and laws of Maryland, and upon 
which the noble structure of her form of government is 
founded. 

30. Governed by a sacred covenant entered into by the 
mere force of public opinion, the convention of 1776 raised 
money, organized armies, regulated and controlled the public 
peace, and exercised all the powers of government with ex- 
traordinary discretion, forbearance, and firmness. In the 
midst of civil war, self-constituted authorities, called " com- 
mittees of safety and correspondence," observed all the 
forms of common law. Few, if any, instances of wanton 
injury or personal oppression occurred in the province or 
state during the war. 

31. The intellectual character of the members of the 
conventions and committees of safety was not inferior to 
their moral courage, and the sagacity of their councils was 
as consummate as the execution of their work. Human 
wisdom never pierced further into the night of the future 
than the foresight and policy of the conventions of Mary- 
land in regard to the public lands. 



156 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

32. Throughout the progress of the war of the revolu- 
tion, Maryland repudiated the arrogant pretension of those 
states which professed to claim that their territories extended 
to the Mississippi River or the Pacific Ocean. In the midst 
of war and disasters to her arms, and the dark clouds that 
hung over her future, her noble sons calmly organized a 
form of government based upon the wisest maxims of po- 
litical science. It was a constitution which elicited the 
eulogies of the most distinguished statesmen, and remained 
in all its essential features unchanged for half a century. 
An enterprise of so much difficulty could never be planned 
and carried out without great abilities, and a people with- 
out principle could not have confidence enough in each 
other. Judged by this standard, the provincial conventions 
of Maryland from 1774 to 1776 are entitled to the venera- 
tion and gratitude of posterity. 

33. The public archives, the proceedings, reports, reso- 
lutions, and letters of public men embodied in the journals 
of the conventions of Maryland, attest that the intellectual 
fountains from which their authors drank were both pure 
and invigorating. 

34. Thomas Bacon, " rector of All Saints parish in Fred- 
erick County, and domestic chaplain in Maryland to the 
Right Honorable Frederick Lord Baltimore," who, in 1765, 
published a volume of the provincial laws of Maryland, was 
a man of marked ability, and a benefactor to the province. 
He compiled the laws of Maryland from the session of the 
legislature which met in the Old Fort at St. Mary's On the 
25th of January, 1637, to the year 1763. It is a work of 
great labor and erudition, admirably arranged, and no sub- 
sequent collection of the old laws compares with it in full- 
ness of annotation or completeness of index. It is a monu- 
ment of great industry and research, containing the most 
authentic and interesting materials of the provincial history 
of Maryland. Its typography shows the great proficiency 



A CONSTITUTION AGREED UPON. 157 

in the art of printing attained by the provincial printers at 
the time of the appearance of the work. 

35. On the 8th of November, 1776, the delegates of 
Maryland, "in free and full convention, assembled," agreed 
to a constitution and form of government for the state. 
The 61st section declares that, to introduce the new govern- 
ment, an election be held for the electors of the senate on 
Monday, the 25th of November in that year, and that the 
electors of the senate meet at Annapolis on Monday, the 
9th of December in the same year, and there choose sena- 
tors. That an election be held on Wednesday, the 18th of 
December, for delegates to serve in general assembly, who 
should meet at Annapolis on Monday, the 10th of February, 
1777, and at that session or some future session choose a 
governor and council for the residue of the year. On the 
13th of February Thomas Johnson was elected first consti- 
tutional governor of Maryland. During the panic created 
by Washington's retreat through New Jersey, the congress 
sitting at Philadelphia had removed from that city to Bal- 
timore, and the council of safety in Maryland called a ses- 
sion of the legislature on the 5th of February, 1777, and 
placed Mr. Johnson in the chair as governor. At this first 
legislature assembled under the new constitution of the 
state, acts were passed to promote the recruiting service, 
and to expedite the march of troops in and through the 
state. An act was also passed to enlarge the powers of the 
governor and council, which declared that the acts of this 
session, which was suddenly called to meet emergencies, 
should be equally binding with formal acts of assembly. 

36. On the 21st of March, 1777, Mr. Johnson was in- 
augurated at Annapolis as governor of the state ; and at a 
session of assembly which met on the 16th of June in the 
same year, he appeared in office as the chief executive offi- 
cer of Maryland. 

37. At this time the thirteen states cf America, in one 



[5§ viu: iiisroin of m vk\ i \\p 

union, h,-iv measuring arms >\uii the British crown, each 

state Acting uu,lov 9 republican lorm oi o.o\ »m nmi'iil. This 

union was therefore a nation made up from thirteen nations, 
and the federal head was responsible for the fate of manj 

\ ;\s\ ;. i and ttUtttberleSS sa\ :i".iMnl> 1 -'- ^tttOUg the 

then was 'ii> % greatest variety o1 customs, institu 
tions, and religions^ which made the i ;^K ol government 
.liili. uli Then "• the deep inbred differences of differ 
ent ancestrj and language, for the people were of the lim 
or nil nations The boundary line between Maryland and 
Pennsylvania is neat the fortieth degree ol north latitude, 
on one sideoi which all labor was ,lrsimo<l to become vi 

nut :n\ . >\ liilo on the Opposite si.lo the s\ *tcn\ of mvolnul,iv\ 

labor, < ervitude, was to prevail, Phis was wn tc '•■> 
come :i fearful element, penetrating not onlj through all 
commercial, and pv>l u i* ^1 relations, but into natural 
and religion, 
oS. Maryland fell upon thai m<1o of the great line where 
servitude was destined to prevail, nn<l she had a republican 
w nment to uphold her institutions, tinder her 
form i vernment the ballot-bos was her urn of fate, 
i r •• equally open to ignorance and treachery as to 
wisdom^ patience, and humanity, It was open to pride and 
v\ . io contempt for the poor, or hostility to the rich, 
:W. In the earlj <1m\^ of the constitutional government 
K j -.1. no in. aid picture the destructive 

; oi the ballot-bos in the hands of corrupt politi* 

dans, 1. COUld not be soon thai the pO>& or ol 

was far more powerful than casting * speai or javelin ; 

. that the right of secret ballot was a general 

; i man in the community to <lo on certain 

; the \ilosi deeds he could conceive with perfect impu* 

Bj tin voti ew wicked men, or even of one 

ced man, honorable men might be hurled from office, 

and miscreants elevated to their places, Vet a check and 



TiiK OHM v i SK u. "!• \i u;\ r.ANH 



I 10 



1 >:il;i lire ill •(■ ill w i\ N I on in I :.oinr\\ liri ■• in t . - 1 « 1 1 1 > 1 1 . . 1 1 i gOVOI'11 
lllrlil:;, Mid lln\ |Mh.|„i 1 M.M\l:ilul III . I « • r m • In ;l IV 
iii.llk.lUi- (l.'.'Ui' r\i-| Mini- llir I oil 1 1. 1 :l I 101 1 ol 1 1« - 1 | ► 1 < « 1 1 < 
lonn ol ""\ Dl nnii'iil w.i I. ml 111)011 the | • 1 1 1 > < 1 j > 1 < • . ol i.ilioiul 
lilx'il \ tO ill] in. ink iiul 

10. T1\0 flOtll NOOtll I lli'' I10M '"ii lilnl I \l.n\ 

land author! on the fjover ' council to make 1 i uov > ■ « < - - » i 

mc:iI for 1 1 * « - u«c "i the state, and on the !11 n1 ol March, 

1 , j , . the <■ ii pANHod :ni order Adopting i"i tlio purpoNo 

(In- "ir.il c:il of l.ol.l I '.:il( 111101 ■(•, Iiioii.'IiI ovoi to the pro> 

luoo b\ Govemoi Pond nil In lOflH " Doing empowered bj 

I Ik - . -on I il ill ion :iinl I'm in ()l •■ 0> I innn-nl ." ..ml (In- roiin.ll 
ill session on 1 1 1:1 1 dftV, " to 111:1 1 1- I In- v.i OUl HOAI ol ''ii ■ 1 .ii.-. 

do make and declare the groat Koal ol Maryland, heretofore 

ii-.. I. III.- .'i.-.i! .i-.il ol III.- I. id-, .111.I .1 mil In lie nu-.l in 
I III lire lllll ll :i in- \\ our 1:111 In' ili\ 1 nil " 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

1777-1780. 

The Maryland Line. — British Troops in Maryland. — Colonel Smith. — Count 
Pulaski. — Arnold's Treason. — Baron De Kalb. 

1. Whenever a battle was fought in the years of 1776 
and 1777, the brave Maryland line was strongly represented. 
Its officers and soldiers were true and fearless men, men 
of principle, and they were always found in front of battle. 
As their ranks were thinned, recruits were sent forward to 
fill them up, that Maryland's forces should never appear on 
the decline. At the session of the legislature which met on 
the 16th of June, 1777, the governor and council were or- 
dered to send part of her artillery companies, not exceed- 
ing fifty-six privates, under a proper number of officers, to 
Philadelphia. In the same year an act was passed requir- 
ing the governor and council to appoint an officer in each 
county of the state, who was authorized to choose any num- 
ber of assistants, whose powers should be as extensive as his 
own. His business was to collect blankets and certain spec- 
ified articles of clothing, of which the army w T ere in extreme 
want. This was to be done by purchasing, at prices to be 
fixed either by agreement of the parties or by the judg- 
ment of an appraiser to be chosen by the collector. If the 
articles could not be bought, the officer might seize them 
wherever he could find them, provided he thought they 
might be spared by the proprietor. It has been remarked 
that " the situation of affairs at the time of passing this act, 
and several prior and subsequent acts of a nature similar to 



BRITISH TROOPS IN MARYLAND. 1(31 

this, will not, perhaps, in the opinion of posterity, justify 
such measures. It will be natural for men in the bosom of 
peace to view them as the arbitrary acts of tyranny and 
oppression, but the facility with which they were executed, 
the cheerfulness with which they were submitted to, and 
the valuable purposes which they answered, have evinced to 
us that they were equally necessary, politic, and wise. 

2. In the same year each county was charged with its 
quota of two thousand men to serve three years in the 
Maryland line. Every effective recruit was to receive, in 
addition to the continental allowance, a bounty of forty 
dollars from the state, a pair of shoes, a pair of stockings, 
and at the expiration of his term, provided he should not 
desert from the army, fifty acres of land. If he shoidd 
have a family which might need assistance during his ab- 
sence, it was to be afforded by the court of his county, 
which was authorized to draw on the treasurer of his shore 
for the purpose. 

3. In 1777 a detachment of the British army landed 
at the head of Elk, in Maryland, from full and light frig- 
ates in which they were sailing. A frigate is a ship of war, 
usually of two decks, light build, and intended for fast sail- 
ing. When it has but one deck, and is consequently of a 
smaller size, it is called a light frigate. The English were 
the first who appeared on the ocean with these ships. They 
equipped them for war as well as for commerce. They 
were built so as to mount from twenty to forty-four guns, 
and they were driven along by sails. The war of 1776, gen- 
erally called the " Revolutionary War," took place before 
the time of the invention of the steamboat ; consequently 
no steam vessels of any kind appeared during the continu- 
ance of that war. 

4. When the British landed at the head of Elk, as above 
stated, they destroyed the military stores deposited there 
by the Marylanders. Had no British fleets visited the Chesa- 



Ifi2 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

peake, it might be said that during the revolutionary war 
no foreign army ever passed the boundaries of Maryland, 
and it can be well said that no battle was fought on her 
soil. By way of the Chesapeake the British were making 
their way to Philadelphia, intending to capture that city, 
as well as all the large cities and towns in America. 

5. That part of the Maryland line which was acting in 
conjunction with other forces in the defense of Philadelphia, 
was under the command of General Deborre, a French offi- 
cer, in whose devotion to the American cause they had not 
entire confidence. Under his command they were surprised 
at the battle of Brandy wine, yet they displayed no cowardice 
in their critical situation. This battle was disastrous to the 
American arms, and the British soon took possession of 
Philadelphia. 

6. The next battle which was fought was that of Ger- 
mantown, on the 4th of October, 1777. At this battle there 
were seven regiments belonging to Maryland. Colonel 
Josias Carvill Hall's regiment, under the command of 
Colonel John Eager Howard, was in the front of battle, and 
its deeds were brave and daring. After a sharp resistance 
on the part of the British, they gave way before the galling 
fire of the Marylanders, and Colonel Howard having cap- 
tured two pieces of artillery turned them in an opposite 
direction upon the enemy. 

7. The main body of Marylanders in the attack on 
Chew's house maintained their ground until overcome from 
fatigue, when they retired in good order. Their loss was 
heavy. Being men of principle, they breasted the foe until 
it was seen that a continuance of the battle could only 
amount to a loss of men without benefit to the American 
cause. General Smallwood and Colonel Gist were not en- 
gaged in this battle. They were, for some reason not given, 
kept from their commands in the line. 

8. According to "Lee's Memoirs," it is found that after 



ATTACK ON MUD ISLAND. 



163 



the battle of Germantown the Americans still continued to 
hold certain points adjacent to Philadelphia. Every effort 
was made to hold 
Mud Island, in the 
Delaware River, and 
Colonel Samuel Smith 
of the Maryland line 
was placed in com- 
mand of that post. 
This brave officer was 
ordered to hold the 
fort there at all haz- 
ards, and the atten- 
tion of both armies 
was therefore turned 
upon him. The Brit- 
ish works on Province 
Island were mounted 
with thirty-two 
pounders, and from 
thence, at the distance of five hundred yards, a destruc- 
tive cannonade of the works on Mud Island took place. 
The block-houses were soon battered down, and Colonel 
Smith summoned a council of his officers, who resolved that, 
should the enemy force the outer works, the garrison would 
retreat to an inclosure in the center of the fort, and there 
demand quarter, which, if refused, a match would be applied 
to the magazine, and themselves with the enemy buried in 
the ruins. From his ships, his battery, and from the heights 
of the Schuylkill, the enemy continued to pour in his fire 
with effect. In the course of the fierce contest Colonel 
Smith received a wound from the shattered walls of the forts 
which obliged him to retire from duty. Colonel Sinnns, of 
Virginia, second in command, sustained the defense with as- 
tonishing firmness, until the erarrison was ordered to retire. 




JOHN EAGER HOWARD. 



164 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

9. Washington, finding it impossible to repossess Phila- 
delphia, and seeing that cold weather was rapidly approach- 
ing, retired into winter quarters at a place in Pennsylvania 
called Valley Forge, and the Maryland line, thinned down 
to about fourteen hundred men, took quarters at Wilming- 
ton, under the command of General Smallwood. 

10. Turning to affairs in the state of Maryland, it is 
found that the legislature which closed its session on the 
3d of December, 1777, was quietly making laws for the se- 
curity of the government and the good of the people. Li 
the preamble to an act, it was declared that "in every free 
state, allegiance and protection are reciprocal, and no man 
is entitled to the benefit of the one who refuses to yield the 
other " ; therefore it was enacted that every free male per- 
son within the state, above eighteen years of age, unless a 
Quaker, Mennonist, or Dunker, should take the oath of fidel- 
ity to the state, and these persons should, to the same effect, 
make solemn affirmation. 

11. At the spring session of 1778 an act was passed for 
the service of the United States. This act provided for the 
collection of live cattle, beef, pork, and bacon for the use of 
the army by purchase or seizure, and by the same act the 
governor was empowered to impress carriages, teams, drivers, 
boats, and hands to transport these articles when collected. 

12. An act was also passed for raising twenty-nine hun- 
dred and two men, including the two artillery companies 
already marched to camp, and such volunteer recruits as 
had already been procured. The number of men were ap- 
portioned on the several counties, according to the number 
of militia in each, and, if the proper number of soldiers were 
not raised on the terms laid down in the act, a draft was to 
take place in five days after a failure. 

13. In this year Casimir Pulaski, a Polish nobleman, 
came to America, and raised a number of troops, composed 
of cavalry and foot, known in history as " Pulaski's Legion." 



BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. 105 

It was raised mostly in Maryland, of the best men of the 
state ; but in the next year the brave Pole lost his life at 
the siege of Savannah. 

14. In the year 1778 the assembly of Maryland passed 
an act for the relief and support of soldiers disabled in the 
service of the United States. The act declared that every 
officer or private who had lost or might lose a limb, or who 
may have been or might be disabled in the service, should 
be entitled to half his monthly pay during the continuance 
of such disability. Upon the pi'inciples laid down in this 
act relating to disabled Maryland soldiers, the general gov- 
ernment based all its acts relating to invalid pensions, and 
it will be seen that the act of Maryland afforded a prece- 
dent which was in after years observed in all the states of 
the Union, as well as by the government of the United 
States, in pensioning the invalids of the continental 
line. 

15. The act referred to provided that the disabled Mary- 
landers, if capable of doing guard or garrison duty, should 
be formed into " a corps of invalids," and be subjected to 
that duty. This precedent was soon followed in the conti- 
nental army by the establishment of an invalid corps, un- 
der the command of Colonel Louis Nicola. 

16. In the spring of 1778 the British evacuated Philadel- 
phia, and moved toward New York. Washington and his 
army having spent the winter at Valley Forge, and the 
Maryland line, under General Smallwood, at Wilmington, 
broke camp and followed the enemy. Both armies came in 
contact at Monmouth, in the state of New Jersey, on Sun- 
day, the 28th of June, and the severest battle fought dur- 
ing the revolution took place, in which the Americans were 
victorious. On the day of the battle General Charles Lee 
ordered his command to retreat. Washington called upon 
the Maryland line to hold the enemy in check until other 
reinforcements could be brought forward. The invincible 



IQQ THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Marylanders came up nobly in obedience to their chief, and 
through them a victory was Avon at Monmouth. At night, 
Washington and Lafayette reposed under a spreading oak- 
tree on the held of battle, and praised the noble men that 
came to the rescue in the dark hour of Lee's retreat. The 
Maryland line was there in season, their bravery checked 
the enemy, and saved the colonial army from inglorious 
defeat. Early in this year France acknowledged the inde- 
pendence of the United States ; made treaties of alliance 
with them ; and the battle of Monmouth evinced to the 
French nation, as well as to all the enlightened nations of 
the earth, that the united colonies were, and of right ought 
to be, free and independent. 

IT. In the preamble to an act passed by the legislature 
of Maryland in 1779, it was declared that the increase of 
people is a means to advance the wealth and strength of the 
state ; that many foreigners, from the lenity of the govern- 
ment, the security afforded by .the constitution and laws to 
civil and religious liberty, the mildness of the climate, the 
fertility of the soil, and the advantage's of commerce, might 
be induced to come and settle in the state if they were made 
partakers of the advantages which the native-born subjects 
of the state enjoy. Therefore a law was passed in effect 
that every person who might come into the state from any 
nation, kingdom, or state, and take an oath of allegiance, 
should be deemed a natural-born subject, but should have 
no power to hold an office unless he had resided in the state 
during seven years previous to his election or appointment 
to office. No taxes were to be levied on the property of 
foreigners coming into the state to settle for the term of 
two years after their arrival. 

18. In this year an act was passed to allow, for one year 
only, to each of the commissioned and staff officers of the 
Maryland line and of the state troops in the continental 
army, the sum of two thousand dollars in lieu of four good 



THOMAS SIM LEE ELECTED GOVERNOR. 167 

shirts, a complete uniform, tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, 
rum, soap, and tobacco, at fixed rates. For the same year, 
all the non-commissioned officers and privates in the same 
service were allowed twenty pounds in money in lieu of 
a supply of rum and tobacco. This act also offered, over 
and above the continental and state bounties, a hat, a pair 
of shoes, stockings, and overalls, to any one who might 
enlist to serve in a Maryland regiment for the term of 
three years. 

19. In 1779 an act was passed for erecting warehouses 
at Bladensburg, to be supplied with scales and blocks, tackle, 
and other necessaries for the inspection of tobacco. At 
this time ships of one hundred and fifty tons register, float- 
ing in the waters at this town, were laden with tobacco and 
other merchandise for foreign markets. During the con- 
tinuance of the revolutionary war, preparations for peace 
were constantly made by the people of Maryland. Public 
warehouses for the encouragement of trade and commerce 
were erected in the state, churches and school-houses built 
and repaired, bridges were constructed, public roads 
Opened, and all the marshy ground in and around Balti- 
more was filled up, graded, and laid off into streets, lanes, 
and alleys. 

20. On the 8th of November in this year the legislature 
met at Annapolis, and on the same day, in compliance with 
the constitution of the state, elected Thomas Him Lee gov- 
ernor in place of Thomas Johnson. 

21. During the administration of Governor Lee, it ap- 
pears that the end of the war in victory to the American 
arms, and the triumphant establishment of the Declaration 
of Independence, were seen not far in the distance, and an 
act was passed empowering the governor and council to sell 
certain public property. This consisted of all the state's 
galleys, and the naval and military stores, reserving enough 
for the use of the militia ; all the saltpeter, salt pans, and 



H iS THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

kettles, and all such of the horses, wagons, harness, and 
gears as they might think proper. 

^i. In this year fourteen hundred soldiers were called 
for to fill up the ranks of the Maryland line in the field 
preparatory to the campaigns of L780. 

•2;>. In the spring, 1780, an act was passed by the legisla- 
ture explanatory of the treaty with France, made by author- 
ity of the ( lontinental Congress. " Be it therefore enacted," 
reads a section <>f the aot, "that the subjects of France 
within (lie state of Maryland, who have come or may conic 
to sojourn or reside within i lie same for the purpose of 
commerce or otherwise, shall have and enjoy all the rights, 

privileges, and exemptions of the full and fret' citizens of 
the stale, without taking any oath or giving any promise 

of allegiance or fidelity to this state." 

24. The just and cultivated people of Maryland granted 
this privilege to the people of France beoause "his most, 
Christian majesty," the king of that nation, had granted 

that, the people of the United States should enjoy within 
his dominions the privileges of" the most favored nations,'" 
and further beoause of the generous and important aid 
which he afforded to the United Slates in the war for inde- 
pendence then in progress. 

25, At the session of the legislature convened on the 
17th of Ootober, L780, it was declared, in a preamble to an 
act, that it had been said the common enemy had been en- 
couraged, because the state of Maryland had not acceded to 

"the articles of confederation and perpetual union between 

the states, 11 " to hope that the union of the sister states might 
be dissolved, ami therefore prosecuted the war in expectation 
of an event so disgraceful to America ; that our friends and 
illustrious ally are impressed with an idea that the common 
cause would he promoted by our formally acceding to the 
confederation ; that the general assembly is conscious that 
the state has from the commencement of the war strenu- 



"ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION " RATIFIED. \{\<) 

ously exerted herself in the common cause, and fully satis- 
fied that, if no formal confederation was to take place, it is 
the fixed determination of the state to continue her exer- 
tions to the utmost, agreeable to the faith pledged in the 
union." From an earnest desire, therefore, to conciliate the 
affection of the sister states, and to convince all the world of 
the unalterable resolution of the people of Maryland to sup- 
port the independence of the United States, the legislature 
passed an act instructing their delegates in congress to sub- 
scribe the " articles of confederation and perpetual union 
between the states," and the articles were finally ratified on 
the 1st of March, 1781. By acceding to the articles 
of the confederation, the state did not give up any right 
she had with the other states to the "back country," but 
claimed the same fully, relying on the justice of the several 
states as to the said claim made by this state. 

26. In 1780, in the face of the treason of Arnold and the 
operations of the British army along the Hudson River, the 
legislature of Maryland passed an act " to seize, confiscate, 
and appropriate all British property within the state." This 
bold step had been taken in the previous year, but not 
completed ; and now they proceeded in earnest to carry out 
the original intention. 

27. It was also enacted in this year that every witness 
attending the general court should be allowed eighty pounds 
of tobacco per day, besides itinerant charges ; that each 
witness attending the county, orphans', or other court should 
be allowed forty pounds, and that each constable should bo 
allowed twenty pounds for serving a warrant. Each juror 
was allowed, for attending the general court, eighty pounds 
of tobacco per day, besides itinerant charges, and for at- 
tending the county, orphans', or other court, forty pounds per 
day — the exchange of tobacco for money being made at the 
rate of twelve shillings and sixpence per hundred pounds. 

28. Believing that as a last resort the British contem- 



170 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

plated an invasion of the southern states, the legislature of 
Maryland directed that twelve thousand of the militia on 
the western, and eight thousand on the eastern, shore of the 
state be selected, armed, and disciplined ; and in an act for 
the defense of the bay, it was directed that there be pro- 
vided four large barges, fitted with sails and oars, armed 
with swivels, and carrying each at least twenty-five men ; 
one galley armed with two eighteen- and two nme-pounders 
and swivels, and one sloop or schooner capable of carrying- 
ten /owr-pounders. And, to protect the counties of Somerset 
and Worcester, there was to be raised a troop of horse, to 
consist of a captain-lieutenant, a cornet, and twenty-four 
dragoons, as well as a foot company, to consist of a captain- 
lieutenant, an ensign, and thirty non-commissioned officers 
and privates, to serve within the state for one year. And, 
further, in order to cut off the resources of a piratical 
enemy, the executive was authorized and requested to have 
all the inhabitants of the islands below Hooper's Strait, and 
between the sound and the bay, with their property, re- 
moved to some part of the mainland ; and to seize and sell 
all the vessels, boats, or canoes belonging to them ; and it 
was directed further that air vessels passing thither with- 
out leave should be seized. All persons were prohibited 
from living there during the war, under the penalty of 
forfeiture of all their property found there, and of being 
thereby deemed enlisted soldiers for the war. But, to make 
some compensation to the inhabitants, the said islands were 
not to be subject to any assessments, and such of the in- 
habitants removed as might need assistance were to be sup- 
ported by a levy made in the two counties, the amount of 
the levy to be paid back by the state. 

29. In this year the British General Clinton was quietly 
shipping his army to the southern states, and Washington 
sent the Marylanders, under Small wood and Gist, to aid in 
the defense of South Carolina. While at Morristown, in th§ 



DEATH OF DE KALB. 171 

state of New Jersey, in the same year, the Maryland forces 
were placed under the command of Major-General De Kalb, 
a German officer, and under him they fought the ba'ttle of 
Camden, on the 16th of August, 1780. Small wood, Gist, 
Williams, and Howard were in this battle, and General De 
Kalb was second in command. The militia of Virginia and 
the Carolinas soon fled from the contest, and the brave 
veterans of .Maryland marched up and met the foe. Lord 
Rawdon, the British officer in command, directed the fire of 
his regulars against the Marylanders, whose fame was known 
to him, and they returned the fire, advancing upon the 
enemy as each volley decimated their ranks. The noble De 
Kalb fell mortally wounded ; Rawdon's forces won the day ; 
Howard and Gist retreated in order, but the rest of the 
Marylanders were scattered in the swamps. 

30. To the memory of De Kalb, the citizens of Camden 
erected a monument, the inscription upon which declares 
that he was a German by birth, but in principle a citizen of 
the world ; that his love of liberty induced him to leave the 
Old World to aid the citizens of the New in their struggle 
for independence ; that his distinguished talents and many 
virtues weighed with Congress to appoint him major-general 
in their revolutionary army, and that he fell, covered with 
wounds, while gallantly performing deeds of valor. 

31. At their session, convened on the 17th of October, 
1780, the Maryland legislature passed an act " to naturalize 
the sons of the late Major-General the Baron De Kalb." 

32. In the preamble to the act for the confiscation of 
British property in Maryland, before referred to, the legis- 
lature declared that, in defiance of public faith and in breach 
of the capitulation of Charleston, the British officer com- 
manding in that department, under frivolous pretenses, had 
imprisoned the persons of several respectable citizens of 
that state, and confiscated their property ; and from the 
general conduct of the enemy it, might be justly inferred 



172 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND 

that their hatred and cruelty were not to be softened or re- 
strained by any respect to the usages of war, the obliga- 
tions of compacts, or the rights of humanity. 

33. " And, whereas," continues the preamble, " by the 
Declaration of Independence, all political connection between 
Great Britain and these states is dissolved, and the sub- 
jects of Great Britain declared enemies in war, and in peace 
friends ; and by the law of nations the subjects of Great 
Britain in their separate and collective capacity are answer- 
able, not only for all expenses incurred by this state in con- 
sequence of the war, but for any injury or damage sustained 
by any of the subjects of this state since the commencement 
thereof, and their property wherever found is subject to 
seizure and confiscation." 

34. At the October session of the legislature of 1780, 
William Paca, Uriah Forrest, and Clement Holliday were 
appointed commissioners for preserving all British property 
seized and confiscated by the act of that session. They 
were authorized to seize and confiscate all British property 
within the state, and they were declared to be in possession 
of all such property without any formal entry or act of seiz- 
ure. By virtue of this act a number of lots in the town 
of Baltimore were confiscated as the property of British 
owners. The several manors in St. Mary's, Kent, Charles, 
Queen Anne's, Dorchester, Somerset, and Worcester Coun- 
ties, which belonged to the lords proprietary of the province, 
and remained unsold by the agents of Frederick Lord Bal- 
timore, were seized by virtue of this act ; and the said act 
bound the state to warrant and secure to all purchasers and 
their heirs for ever any British property sold in pursuance 
of the act. 

35. Without waiting for the close of the war, the brave 
Marylanders took the responsibility, and proceeded vigor- 
ously to eradicate all traces of British domination in the state. 

36. In 1781 the legislature declared and enacted that, in 



PREPARATIONS FOR INVASION. 173 

order " to ease the good people from a draft about to be 
made to fill up the ranks in the Maryland line, every free 
male idle person, above sixteen years of age, who was able- 
bodied and had no visible means of an honest livelihood, 
might be adjudged a vagrant and considered as an enlisted 
soldier, and the " taker up " of such a vagrant was exempted 
from the draft. 

37. In 1781 it appeared evident that Lord Cornwallis, 
in command of the British forces in the south, and the trai- 
tor Benedict Arnold, in the Chesapeake, were preparing to 
invade Virginia and Maryland. Their plan was to invade 
every state, and take all the principal cities and towns on or 
adjacent to the seacoast, sweeping Yorktown, Richmond, 
Annapolis, and Baltimore as they proceeded. 

38. To prepare for invasion, the governor of Maryland 
was empowered to purchase a certain galley in Baltimore 
town, and to build a second one, both of which should be 
completely fitted and manned, and employed in compliance 
with the direction of the governor and council. He was 
also authorized to procure, fit, and man any number of 
barges not exceeding eight for the defense of the state. 

39. Owing to the fearful state of the times, to an in- 
vasion from the south, and to the report of an extensive 
and dangerous conspiracy in the back counties, it was en- 
acted in this year that any person charged with being a 
spy, or an emissary from the enemy, might be tried by a 
tribunal appointed by the governor and council of state, 
composed of military or militia officers, whose sentence, if 
ratified by the governor, might " extend to the taking away 
of his life." No lives, however, were taken away by virtue 
of this act, except, perhaps, the lives of certain conspirators 
who were arrested in the back counties for an attempt to 
raise an insurrection on the western frontiers of the state. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

1781-1782. 

Wnr in the South. — Maryland Line. — Colonel Howard. — Colonel Williams. — 
General Smallwood. — Thanks of Congress. — Washington College. — Schools. 
— Peace declared. 

1. Turning again to the war in the south, it is found 
that, in the beginning of the year 1781, Colonel Tarleton, 
in command of a body of British horse and foot, was in 
close pursuit of the forces of General Morgan, in which 
there were a body of continental infantry of the Maryland 
line and two companies of Virginia militia commanded by 
Colonel John Eager Howard, of Maryland. 

2. Colonel Tarleton, says General Lee, after a severe 
march through a rugged country, came in sight of General 
Morgan's forces on the 17th of January at a place called 
the Cowpens, in South Carolina. Tired of being pursued by 
his enemy, Morgan halted his command at the Cowpens, 
and sat down to give refreshment to his men, with a resolu- 
tion to no longer avoid a battle. The British, hurrying for- 
ward, were at length gratified with the prospect of a battle. 
Colonel Tarleton directed his line to advance on Morgan. 
They shouted, rushed forward on his front line, and poured 
in a close fire. Continuing to advance with the bayonet on 
the American militia, they retired in haste to the second 
line. Colonel Pickens, of South Carolina, took post on Colo- 
nel Howard's right. Tarleton pushed forward, and was 
received with unshaken tirniness. The contest became more 



BATTLE OF THE COWPENS. 175 

and more obstinate ; and each party, animated by the exam- 
ple of its leader, nobly contended for victory. So firmly 
did the Americans maintain their ground that the British 
were obliged to bring in their reserve. This movement ani- 
mated the British line, which again moved forward, out- 
stretching the American front, and greatly endangering 
Colonel Howard's right. This brave Maryland officer in- 
stantly took measures to defend his flank, by directing his 
right company to change its front. 

3. Mistaking this order, the company fell back, and the 
line began to retire, General Morgan directing it to retreat 
to the cavalry. This movement being performed with pre- 
cision, the American flank became relieved, and the new 
position was assumed. Considering this retrograde move- 
ment a preparation for flight, the British line rushed on in 
fury ; but, as it drew near, Colonel Howard faced about and 
gave it a close and most destructive tire. Stunned by the 
shock, the enemy's advance recoiled in disorder, and Colonel 
Howard, quick in perception, seized the advantageous mo- 
ment, following it up with the bayonet. This decisive step 
gave the Americans the victory, and posterity will not cease 
to venerate the noble Howard as the hero of the hard-fought 
battle of the Cowpens. It was won by the brave Howard 
and his invincible Marylanders. Congress voted to him a 
silver medal for his meritorious and fearless conduct. 

4. On the 15th of March, 1781, a battle was fought at 
Guilford court-house, in North Carolina, at which the 
Maryland line was well represented under the command of 
Colonel Otho Holland Williams. At this battle the first 
Maryland regiment, commanded by Colonel John Gunby, 
was present, with Lieutenant-Colonel Howard second in 
command. The enemy rushed into close fire, but, so firmly 
was he received by the brave Marylanders, supported by 
Virginia and Delaware forces, that he was again forced to 
recoil from the shock. Discovering the second Maryland 



176 



THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



regiment, commanded by Colonel Ford, on the left of the 
first, the British pushed forward upon it. Being overpow- 
ered by numbers, it gave way, to the surprise of Colonel Wil- 
liams, leaving two 
pieces of artillery to 
the enemy. Gun- 
by, being left free, 
wheeled upon the 
British, who were 
pursuing the second 
regiment in its flight, 
and manfully strug- 
gled for victory. 
Colonel Washing- 
ton, with his cavalry, 
pressed forward to 
the scene of action, 
and fell upon the 
enemy with sword 
in hand. He was 
followed by Colonel 
Howard and his veteran Marylanders, with fixed bayonets. 
This combined operation was irresistible. Stewart, the 
British officer in command, fell by the sword of Captain 
Smith, of the first regiment of Maryland, the two field-pieces 
were recovered, and the British battalion was driven back 
with slaughter. Its remains were saved by the enemy's 
artillery, which, to stop the ardent pursuit of Washington 
and Howard, opened upon friends as well as foes. Lord 
Cornwallis, seeing the vigorous advance of these two offi- 
cers, determined to arrest their progress, though every ball 
leveled at them could only pass through the flying guards. 
Checked by this cannonade, and discovering one regiment 
passing from the woods on the enemy's right across the 
road, and another advancing in front, Colonel Howard, be- 




COLONEL WILLIAMS. 



RATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 177 

lieving himself to be destitute of support, retired, followed 
by Colonel Washington. 

5. " This battle was fought on the 15th of March," said 
General Henry Lee, " a day never to be forgotten by the 
southern section of the United States. The atmosphere 
calm, and illumined with a cloudless sun ; the season rather 
cold than cool ; the body braced and the mind high-toned 
by the state of the weather. Great was the stake ; willing 
were the generals to put it to hazard, and their armies 
seemed to support with ardor the decision of their respective 
leaders." 

6. After the battle of Guilford court-house, General 
Greene, in command of the southern army, encamped for a 
season of rest on the " high hills of the Santee." In Au- 
gust, 1781, he broke camp, and marched to the southward. 
The enemy, retreating in the same direction, were finally 
overtaken by him at Eutaw Springs, in South Carolina, 
where a battle was fought on the 8th of September in that 
year. The Americans soon obtained a view of the full body 
of the British, and quickly Colonel Williams, of the Mary- 
land line, brought up Captain Gaines, with two pieces of 
artillery, in full gallop, who, preparing for action, took his 
part with decision and effect. The Marylanders, under the 
command of Williams and Howard, were on the left of the 
second line of battle, resting with their left flank on the 
Charleston road. 

7. The British army was drawn up in one line a few 
hundred paces in front of their camp, with two separate 
bodies of infantry and cavalry posted in the rear, ready to 
be applied as contingencies might point out. The third 
regiment, called the Buffs, had lately arrived from Ireland, 
and had never before been in action. During the continu- 
ance of the battle, this regiment was opposed to the Mary- 
landers under Colonel Howard, and such was the obstinacy 
with which the contest was maintained that a number of 



17S THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Mary landers and Buffs fell transfixed by each other's bayo- 
nets. 

8. General Greene, determined to strike a decisive blow, 
brought up all the Marylanders and Virginians, when the 
American line became dark and dense, and the battle 
raged with redoubled fury. Colonel Howard was severely 
wounded. The victory of the day was claimed by both 
sides, yet the benefits resulting from it were in favor of the 
Americans. 

9. On the 29th of October, 1781, Congress voted " that 
the thanks of the United States in Congress assembled be 
presented to Major-General Greene, for his wise, decisive, 
and magnanimous conduct in the action of the 8th of Sep- 
tember last, near the Eutaw Springs, in South Carolina, in 
which, with a force inferior in number to that of the enemy, 
he obtained a most signal victory. 

10. " That the thanks of the United States in Congress 
assembled be presented to the officers and men of the Mary- 
land and Virginia brigades, and Delaware battalion of con- 
tinental troops, for the unparalleled bravery and heroism 
by them displayed in advancing to the enemy through an 
incessant fire, and charging them with an impetuosity and 
ardor that could not be resisted." 

11. On the 19th of October, 1781, Lord Cornwallis sur- 
rendered to General Washington at Yorktown, in Virginia, 
after a weak effort to oppose the combined forces of the 
Americans and French. In this action a portion of the old 
Maryland line was present, and acquitted itself with its 
usual honors. The war was now at an end ; the revolution, 
commenced in Massachusetts in 1775, was finished in Vir- 
ginia in 1781, and the thirteen British colonies of America 
were now free, independent, and sovereign states. 

12. Dating " Camp near York, October, 1781," General 
Washington wrote to Governor Lee, of Maryland, transmit- 
ting the terms upon which Lord Cornwallis had surren- 



WASHINGTON'S CONGRATULATIONS. 179 

dered. "My present engagements," writes the illustrious 
Washington, " will not allow me to add more than my con- 
gratulations on this happy event, and to express the high 
sense I have of the powerful aid which I have derived from 
the state of Maryland in complying with my every request 
to the executive of it. The prisoners will be divided be- 
tween Winchester, in Virginia, and Fort Frederick, in Mary- 
land." 

13. Washington, doubtless, remembered when a part of 
a Maryland regiment overawed and brought to a stand a 
whole brigade of British at Long Island ; how, at White 
Plains, they held in check the advancing columns of well- 
disciplined regulars ; and how, at Harlem Heights, they 
forced the enemy to fly from the scene of carnage. 

14. The Maryland line was also represented at Trenton 
and Princeton, and, with the exception of that at which 
Burgoyne surrendered in 1777, there were no important 
battles fought during the revolution in which it did not 
take an honorable part. 

15. The smoke of battle had scarcely lifted and floated 
away before the people of Maryland turned to encourage- 
ment of learning in the state. It v/as believed that institu- 
tions of a high grade for the liberal education of youth in 
the principles of virtue, knowledge, and useful literature, 
are of the highest benefit to society ; that, in order to 
raise up and perpetuate a succession of able and honest 
men, such institutions of learning had merited and received 
the attention of the wisest and best-regulated states. It 
was remembered that provincial legislatures had laid a 
foundation for this good work by erecting county schools 
for the study of Latin, Greek, writing, and the like, intend- 
ing to erect one or more colleges, but the continuance of 
this great and laudable work had been interrupted by sundry 
incidents of a public character. It had also been interrupted 
and retarded by the great difficulty in fixing a situation on 



180 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

either shore of the state for a seminary of " universal learn- 
ing," which might be of equal benefit and convenience to 
the youth of both shores. 

10. It was, therefore, in 1782, represented to the legis- 
lature that it would probably tend most to the immediate 
advancement of literature in the state, if the inhabitants of 
each shore should be left to consult their own convenience 
in founding and endowing a college of general learning, 
each for themselves, under the sanction of law. These two 
colleges, if thought most conducive to the advancement of 
learning, religion, and good government, might afterward, 
by common consent, be united under one supreme legisla- 
ture and " visitatorial jurisdiction," as distinct branches of 
the same state university, notwithstanding their distance of 
situation. 

17. The visitors of the Kent County school in the 
town of Chester had represented to the legislature that 
the said school had of late increased greatly, by an ac- 
cession of students from various parts of the eastern shore 
and the state of Delaware, so that at the time there were 
one hundred and forty students in attendance, and that 
the number was expected to increase in a short time to two 
hundred. 

18. The Latin and Greek languages, English, French, 
writing, merchants' accounts, and the different branches of 
the mathematics, were taught in that school, and a number 
of students were preparing for and desirous to enter upon 
a course of philosophy, and must repair to some other state 
to finish their education, unless the plan of the school was 
enlarged. 

19. The visitors therefore prayed that the Kent County 
school be enlarged into a college or place of universal learn- 
ing, and the legislature enacted that the visitors of the 
school should have full power and authority to erect it into 
a college. The act appointed twenty-four visitors or gov- 



"WASHINGTON COLLEGE." 181 

ernors of Washington College, who were declared to be 
" one community, corporation, and body politic, to have 
continuance for ever in the state of Maryland, in honorable 
and perpetual memory of his excellency General Washing- 
ton, the illustrious and virtuous commander-in-chief of the 
armies of the United States." Thus was the name of the 
old provincial school of Kent County changed to " Wash- 
ington College." 

20. The visitors or governors of the college were em- 
powered to make and use one common and public seal, like- 
wise one privy seal, with such devices or inscriptions as 
they should think proper, and by a written mandate under 
the said privy seal, students were to be admitted to such 
degrees as were usual in other colleges or universities in 
America or Europe. 

21. In 1782 it was enacted by the legislature of Mary- 
land that all ships or vessels built by any of the inhabitants 
of the state for any citizens of the United States, or any 
vessel the property of, or built for, a subject of any power 
or state not at enmity or war with the state of Maryland, 
might be registered according to the act. Registers, which 
had been formerly granted by the governor of the state, 
were now to be granted by the naval officer of the port from 
which the vessel hailed. 

22. In the same year, an act was passed to permit " the 
United States in Congress assembled," to impose a duty of 
five per cent, on imported foreign goods, and on all prizes 
and prize goods, for the payment of the debt contracted 
by Congress during the revolutionary war. The act em- 
powered the United States to impose this duty upon all 
goods, wares, and merchandise of foreign growth or manu- 
facture imported into the state from any foreign port, 
island, or plantation, provided that arms, ammunition, cloth- 
ing, and other articles imported on account of the United 
States, or any of them, and wool cards, cotton cards, and 



182 TIJ E HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

wire for making them, and salt, be exempted from the said 
duty during the war. 

23. On the 4th of November, 1782, the legislature met 
at Annapolis, and, on the 15th of the same month, William 
Paca, one of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, was elected governor of the state. Governor Paca 
was born in 1T40, was a member of the provincial legisla- 
ture in 1771, and a member of the Continental Congress in 
1776. 

24. In 1783, it was enacted under the administration of 
Governor Paca that " no person of the sect, society, or pro- 
fession of the people called Methodists shall be fined for 
preaching the gospel without taking the oath or affirmation 
prescribed by the act for the better security of the govern- 
ment, unless it shall appear that such Methodist, by his ac- 
tion and conduct, has manifested a disposition inimical to 
the government of the state." From this time Methodism 
in Maryland became more respected and prosperous ; the 
building of many churches followed, and camp-meetings, 
which were considered generally as gatherings of the people 
from which little or no good resulted, were numerously 
attended by the most respectable people of the state. 

25. On the 19th of April in this year the treaty of peace 
between Great Britain and the United States was ratified, 
and at the session of the legislature, convened on the 21st 
of the same month, another act was passed concerning the 
registry of ships. It declared that since the treaty of peace it 
was improper to prevent subjects of Great Britain from hold- 
ing property in vessels belonging to and owned with citizens 
of the state, and that vessels ought to be entered and cleared 
from or to any part of the British dominions. It was en- 
acted, therefore, that thereafter, in granting registers, such 
part thereof as prevents the subjects of Great Britain from 
holding shares or interest in vessels, one third whereof be- 
longed to citizens of the state, should in future be omit- 



AN ACT CONCERNING COPYRIGHTS. 183 

ted ; and every register thereafter granted was to be cor- 
rected so as only to prevent subjects of any state at enmity 
or war with the state of Maryland or the United States 
from having property in any vessel declared by law to be- 
long to the state. 

26. In the same year the legislature invested the " Con- 
gress of the United States " with power to levy duties, on cer- 
tain articles imported into the state, for the support of the 
general government. Upon all rum of Jamaica proof, per 
gallon, a levy of four ninetieths of a dollar was allowed ; 
upon all other spirituous liquors, three ninetieths of a dol- 
lar per gallon ; upon Madeira wine, twelve ninetieths of a 
dollar ; upon all other wines, six ninetieths of a dollar ; 
upon common Bohea tea, six ninetieths of a dollar per 
pound ; upon all other teas, twenty-four ninetieths of a 
dollar ; upon pepper, three ninetieths of a dollar ; upon 
brown sugar, one half a ninetieth of a dollar ; upon loaf 
sugar, two ninetieths of a dollar ; upon all other sugars, one 
ninetieth of a dollar ; upon molasses, one ninetieth of a 
dollar per gallon ; upon cocoa and coffee, one ninetieth of 
a dollar per pound, and upon all other goods, wares, and mer- 
chandise of foreign growth or manufacture, imported into 
the state from any foreign port, island, or plantation, a duty 
of five per cent, ad valorem, at the time and place of im- 
portation. This law affords some information as to how 
the different states of the Union contributed to the support 
of the general government before the constitution of the 
United States was framed and adopted. 

27. In 1783, also, the legislature of Maryland passed an 
act concerning copyrights, or literary property, in the pre- 
amble to which it was declared that printers, booksellers, 
and other persons might take the liberty of printing and 
publishing books and other writings without the consent of 
the authors and proprietors of such books and writings, to 
their great injury. 



184 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

28. Therefore, for the encouragement of learned men in 
the state, it was enacted that the author of any hook or 
books, writing or writings, already composed and not printed 
and published, or that might hereafter be composed, should 
have the sole liberty of printing and reprinting such book 
or books, writing or writings, for the term of fourteen 
years, to commence from the day of the first publishing of 
the same. Violators of this act w r ere made to forfeit to the 
authors infringed upon, all the books illegally printed, and 
were fined twopence for every sheet found in his or her 
custody, either printed or being printed, published or ex- 
posed to sale, contrary to the true intent and meaning of 
the act. This act of the Maryland legislature, passed even 
before the footprints of British soldiery on the sands of the 
American shores had worn away, afforded a precedent 
which was followed by the Congress of the United States, 
with respect to copyrights, after the adoption of their con- 
stitution and form of general government. 



CHAPTER XX. 
1783-1785. 

The Army disbanded. — Washington at Annapolis. — The Potomac Canal Com- 
pany. — George Town. — Ships and Shipping. 

1. In September, 1783, a proclamation was issued by 
Congress disbanding the army of the United States. On 
the 4th of December, the principal officers of the army as- 
sembled in New York to take leave of Washington, their 
beloved commander-in-chief. " With a heart full of love and 
gratitude," said the great chief, " I now take leave of you. 
I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as pros- 
perous and happy as your former ones have been glorious 
and honorable." 

2. Washington, hastening on to Annapolis, in Maryland, 
where the Congress of the United States was in session, ar- 
rived thei - e on the 17th of December. Generals Gates and 
Smallwood, accompanied by the most distinguished citizens 
of the state, met him within a few miles of the city, and 
escorted him to apartments prepared for his reception. 

3. On the 23d of December, in the presence of the Con- 
gress, the governor, and council of the state, and a vast 
body of prominent citizens, consisting of ladies and gentle- 
men of Maryland, and other states, he addressed the presi- 
dent of Congress, and resigned his commission as command- 
er-in-chief. The battles of a glorious war had been fought 
since he first appeared before Congress to accept the com- 
mand of their armies. Now the eyes of a new-born nation 
were upon him ; the voices of a liberated people proclaimed 



;-., THE UISTOEY OS MARYLAND. 

him their preserver; and from Maryland, a state that had so 
nobly answered the calls of the chief daring the progress 
of the war, he retired to private life at -Mourn Vernon, the 
home of his heart. 

4. "The great events on which my resignation de- 
pended,*' -aid Washington, addressing the president of Con- 

. "having at Length taken place, J have now the honor 
of offering my sincere congratulations to Congress, and of 
presenting myself before them to surrender into their hands 
the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of 
retiring from the service of my country. 

5. " Happy in the confirmation of our independence and 
sovereignty," continued the chief, "and pleased with the 
opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a re- 
spectable nation, I resign with satisfaction the appointment 
I accepted with diffidence —a diffidence in my abilities to ac- 
complishso arduous a task, which, however, was superseded 
by a confidence in the rectitude of our cause, the support 
of the supreme power of the Union, and the patronage of 
Heaven. 

6. "Having now finished tin- work assigned me, r -aid 
he, in conclusion, "I retire from the great theatre of action, 
and. bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, 
under whose orders I have Long acted, I here offer my com- 
mission, and take leave of all the employments of public 
life." 

7. The address having ended, General Washington ad- 
vanced and delivered hi- commission into the hand of the 
president of Congress, who, on receiving it, made an appro- 
priate reply. This interesting event, which took place at 
Annapolis, on the soil of Maryland, makes a brilliant page 
of the history of the state, and young and old will look 
haek to it. from the remote ages of posterity with pleasure, 
pride, and patriotism. 

8. In duly, 1783, the king of (Ureal Britain issued a 



A TAX IMPOSED ON BRITISH SHIPPING. 187 

proclamation in effect that the growth or produce of any 
of the United States be prohibited from carriage to any 
part of the British West Indies by any other than British 
subjects in British-built ships, owned by subjects of Great 
Britain, and navigated according to the acts of Parliament, 
The legislature of Maryland, therefore, in the same year 
declared that proceedings which exclude the vessels of any 
of the United States from carrying the growth or produce 
of said states to any of the British West India islamic, or 
from bringing from said islands any of their growth or 
produce, was repugnant to the principles of reciprocal inter- 
est, and aimed at the sole monopoly of the carrying trade. 
A law Avas therefore passed that five shillings per ton be 
imposed upon every ton of British shipping at the entrance 
or clearance of any British ship at the ports of Maryland ; 
and that no register should be granted by the naval officers 
of the state to any ship or vessel owned in whole or in part 
by any British subject. 

9. The acts of the first constitutional Congress of the 
United States relating to foreign ships and shipping had 
their foundations in the precedents afforded by the acts of 
the legislature of Maryland, passed in and prior to the year 
1783 ; and the practice of depositing the registers of foreign 
ships during their continuance in the ports of the United 
States in the offices of foreign consuls residing in this coun- 
try, originated in the state of Maryland. The precedent 
was established by an act of the legislature at the Novem- 
ber session of 1783, which directed that tin; registers and 
other papers belonging to French vessels in the ports of 
Maryland, should be deposited with the French consul resi- 
dent near such ports, until the naval officer at such port or 
ports should certify to said consul that all duties due from 
said vessels to the state were fully paid. 

10. The legislature of 1784 declared in the preamble to 
an act that institutions lor the education of youth, under 



188 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

the care and patronage of the state, have ever been encour- 
aged by the wisest nations, as the most effectual means of 
disseminating the principles of religious and civil liberty, 
private and public virtue, and those liberal arts and sciences 
which are at once the greatest ornament of a free republic, 
as well as the surest basis of its stability and glory. 

11. They declared, further, that former legislatures of 
the state had at various times considered how to make last- 
ing provision for the good education of their youth, and 
had made considerable progress in the good work. That 
this was done by sundry laws for the establishment of 
county schools, and by the grant of money for the sole pur- 
pose of erecting and endowing a college or general seminary 
for the state. 

12. In pursuance of an act for founding a college at 
Chestertown, very large sums of money had been raised by 
private contributors on the eastern shore, and applied to 
building and carrying on said college. The legislature had 
on former occasions resolved that such exertions for the 
public good merited its approbation, and ought to receive 
the public encouragement and assistance. 

13. The visitors and governors of the college set forth 
that the sum of ten thousand pounds, which they had raised 
for carrying on the college, would not be more than suffi- 
cient to furnish and prepare the building for the reception 
of the masters and scholars, and for purchasing a library 
and the necessary apparatus, mathematical and philosoph- 
ical. 

14. They prayed, therefore, that a permanent yearly 
fund, in addition to the tuition money to be paid by the 
scholars, might be granted by the state ; and, in answer, the 
general assembly declared that they were desirous, as far 
as the public circumstances would permit, to encourage a 
seminary so successfully begun, and intended to be for ever 
dedicated and carried on by the name of Washington Col- 



COMPLIMENTS TO LAFAYETTE. 189 

lege, in honorable and perpetual memory of the late illus- 
trious and virtuous commander-in-chief of the army. 

15. They therefore enacted that the sum of twelve hun- 
dred and fifty pounds current money be annually and for 
ever thereafter given and granted as a donation by the 
public to the use of Washington College, to be applied by 
the visitors and governors of the said college to the payment 
of salaries to the principal, professors, and tutors of said 
college. It will be seen that the desire of the founders of 
literary institutions in Maryland has not grown less in their 
supporters, for the state can clai^a as her own, institutions 
of learning of high and low grade not to be surpassed by 
any similar ones in the United States. 

16. The desire of Lafayette once more to see the land 
of his adoption and the associates of his glory — his fellow- 
soldiers in the war for independence, who had become to 
him as brothers — induced him to pay a visit to the United 
States in 1784. 

17. In this year the general assembly of Maryland, as 
expressed in. the preamble to an act, desired to perpetuate 
a name dear to the state, and recognize the Marquis de La 
Fayette for one of its citizens, who, at the age of nineteen 
years, left his native country, and risked his life in the 
American revolution. The legislative power of the state 
complimented him by saying that, upon joining the Ameri- 
can army, after being appointed by Congress to the rank of 
major-general, he refused the usual rewards of command, 
and fought only to deserve' what he attained, the character 
of patriot and soldier. When appointed to conduct an ex- 
pedition into Canada, he called forth, by his prudence and 
extraordinary discretion, the approbation of Congress ; and, 
when at the head of an army in Virginia, baffled the skill 
of a distinguished general, and excited the admiration of 
the oldest commanders. He attracted early the notice and 
obtained the friendship of Washington. 



190 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

IS. The assembly of Maryland enacted, therefore, that 
the Marquis de La Fayette and his heirs male forever should 
be deemed, adjudged, and taken to be natural-born citizens 
of the state, and should be entitled to all the immunities, 
rights, and privileges of the same. 

19. In the same year the Potomac canal company was 
chartered by the state of Maryland. An initial movement 
for clearing the Potomac River had been made, as far back 
as the "year 1774, by such men as George Washington, 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Daniel Dulany, Daniel of St. 
Thomas Jenifer, Adam Stephen, and Thomas Johnson, the 
latter of whom was made the first constitutional governor 
of the state. 

20. In the same year in which the Potomac company was 
chartered, the state of Virginia tendered to " George Wash- 
ington, Esquire," fifty thousand shares of the stock of this 
company, and one hundred thousand shares of the James 
River company's stock, to testify her sense of his " unexam- 
pled merits toward his country." For this Washington 
returned his thanks in the most grateful manner, but de- 
clined the gift. In doing this, he used words which should 
not be forgotten by men who accept high public trusts. 
" When," said he, " I was called to the station with which 
I was honored during the late conflict for our liberties, I 
thought it to be my duty to join to a firm resolution to shut 
my hands against every pecuniary recompense. To this 
resolution I have invariably adhered, and from it, if I had 
the inclination, I do not consider myself at liberty to de- 
part," 

21. General Washington was first president of the Po- 
tomac company, and assisted in person in the survey of the 
river. The object of the company was, by means of locks, 
dams, and short canals, to make the upper Potomac naviga- 
ble. The work was so far proceeded with as to afford a pre- 
carious navigation at high water for flat-boats from George 



THE COURT-HOUSE IN BALTIMORE IMPROVED. 101 

Town to Cumberland. The route was exceedingly danger- 
ous, and a great number of boats were wrecked every 
spring. This company was finally merged into the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio canal company. 

22. In the year 1784 it was represented to the general 
assembly of the state that the court-house in the town of 
Baltimore, by its position on a hill about twenty feet above 
the pitch of Calvert Street, and by crossing the street in a 
due east and west course, checked the town, both in its 
growth and prosperity, inasmuch as the extent of Calvert 
Street was limited by the court-house, and all direct inter- 
course with the country thereby prevented ; that the said 
court-house, by being underpinned and arched by three 
arches added to the building on the south side, and an 
equal number of corresponding arches on the north side, the 
center arches to be twenty-eight feet in the clear, and eigh- 
teen feet high, the other six feet in the clear, and tw r elve 
feet high, or thereabout, would thereby open a communica- 
tion with the country, and permit the pitch of the street to 
be continued without damage to the said court-house, and 
that persons were disposed to undertake the same at their 
own expense and risk. This work was done under the di- 
rection of the commissioners of the town, which prepared 
the way for a beautiful, extensive, and useful square on 
Calvert Street. 

23. In the 8th article of the articles of confederation and 
perpetual union between the states, it was declared that " all 
chai'ges of w r ar, and all other expenses that shall be incurred 
for the common defense or general welfare, and allowed by 
the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed 
out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the 
several states in proportion to the value of all land within 
each state granted to, or surveyed for, any person, as such 
land and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be 
estimated, according to such mode as the United States in 



TEE HI MARYLAND. 

Congress assembled shall from time to time direct and 

int." 

. Their session of 17*4 the delegates in the p 

- 

eral asseix Lary land instructed the delega: 

gress - tion of the following 

the 8th section of the articles of confederation, in place of 

in the preceding paragraph : u That all charges of war, 
and all other expenses that hare been or shall be ineurr 

mmon d . ral welfare, and allowed 

Stal assemble : : ar as shall 

be otl led for, shall be defrayed out of a com- 

mon treasury, which shall be supplie 

proportion to the whole number of white and other free citi- 
zens and mhabitarr :- Edition, including 

bound to servitude for a term ■.: nd three fifths 

of all other persons not comprehended in the forego: . 
seription, except Indians not paying taxes in ea 

25. was the sense of the delegates in the 

assembly that institutions for the liberal education of youth 

in the principles of virtue, knowledge, and useful literature 

f the highest benefit Vat - ieved such 

re necessary in order to train up and perpetu- 

n of able and honest men, for discharging the 

various offices and duties of life, both civil and rel: _ 

maintained that such institutions of learning had been 
promoted and encouraged by the wisest and . lated 

1 it appeared to the general assembly that many 
public-spirited individuals, from an ear- 
mote the founding of a college on the western shore of the 

had subscribed and procured subscriptions to a con- 
siderable amount. They had reason to believe tha: 
large additions to these subscriptions would be obtained 
throughout the different counties of the rn shore if 

the subscribers were made capable in law to apply the same 
'. .~. j.- I :' . .;_ ;::: \ : .'L-.z- 



GEORGE TOfTX 293 

26. The general assembly highly approved the generous 
exertions of the people, and were desirous to embrace that 
present favorable occasion of peace and prosperity for mak- 
ing lasting provision for the advancement of knowledge 
through every part of the state. 

27. It was therefore enacted that a college by the name 
of St. John's should be established on the western shore of 
the state upon inviolable principles. It was founded, ac- 
cordingly, to be maintained for ever upon a most liberal plan 
for the benefit of youth of every i-eligious denomination. 
They were admitted to equal privileges and advantages of 
education, and to all the literary honors of the college ac- 
cording to their merit. Xo civil or religious test was re- 
quired or enforced, and the scholars were not urged to at- 
tend upon any particular religious worship or service, other 
than that in which they had been educated, unless by the 
consent of their parents or guardians. Xo preference was 
given in the choice of a principal, vice-principal, or other 
professor, master, or tutor, on account of his particular re- 
ligious profession ; but regard was paid solely to his moral 
character and literary abilities. 

28. In a preamble to the act establishing this college, it 
is said it appeared to the general assembly that the connec- 
tion between the two shores of Maryland would be greatly 
increased by uniformity of manners and joint efforts for the 
advancement of literature under one supreme legislative and 
visitatorial jurisdiction. It was therefore enacted that 
Washington College on the eastern shore, and St. John's 
College on the western shore, should be one university, 
under the name of the University of Maryland, whereof the 
governor of the state, for the time being, should be chan- 
cellor. 

29. George Town, on the Potomac River, which had be- 
come a place of commercial importance, was, in 1783, in- 
creased in size by the addition of a tract of land called the 

9 



194- THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Rock of Dumbarton, and in 1784 it was further increased 
by the addition of other tracts called Discovery, Frogland, 
Resurvey on Salop, and Conjurer's Disappointment. The 
town at this time was in a condition to keep equal pace 
with Baltimore. 

30. In this year an act was passed to establish funds to 
secure the payment of the state debt within six years, and 
for the punctual payment of the interest on the same. In 
passing this act it was declared that justice and policy re- 
quired that the state ought, on all occasions, most inviolably 
and religiously preserve its plighted faith and honor, and 
provide funds to secure the payment of all debts due from 
the public within such reasonable time as the circumstances 
of the people would permit. 

31. After the establishment of independence, the legis- 
lators of Maryland discovered that the laws respecting com- 
merce, the duty of naval officers, the registering of ships, 
and the exportation and importation of goods, wares, and 
merchandise, did not well apply to the circumstances of a 
great number of cases, and it was enacted that no ship or 
vessel should be deemed a ship or vessel of the free and 
sovereign state of Maryland, unless one half thereof was 
the actual property of one or more citizens of the state. 

32. Every ship above forty feet keel, one sixth part of 
which belonged to a citizen of the state, was compelled to 
obtain from a naval officer, a register, signed and sealed by 
the governor of the state, and countersigned by the clerk 
of the council, and, if the owner of any vessel of or under 
forty feet keel, desired to have a register for the same, it 
might be granted in the same manner as to other vessels. 

33. The register contained a description of the ship or 
vessel, setting forth that she was round- or square-sterned, 
the length of her keel, her tonnage, the time and place of 
construction, her owners' and master's names, and an oath 
or affirmation to the effect that no subject of any state at 



AN ACT OF SOVEREIGNTY. 195 

war or enmity with the state of Maryland or the United 
States, had any share or interest in said ship or vessel to the 
best of the knowledge and belief of the deponent. 

34. The naval officer residing at the port or within the 
naval district to which the vessel belonged, in issuing the 
register, also administered the oath or affirmation, and with 
her register on board and the flag of Maryland at her mast- 
head, she traversed the highway of nations. 

35. The tonnage of a double-decked vessel of Maryland 
was ascertained by taking the length of her keel, her breadth 
within board by the midship beam from plank to plank, and 
half the breadth was accounted as equal to her depth. The 
length, breadth, and depth were multiplied together, the 
product divided by ninety-five, and the quotient indicated 
the true tonnage of the ship. In a single-decked vessel the 
length of keel, breadth of beam, and depth of hold were 
multiplied together, and the product divided by ninety-five 
as in the case of double-deekers. Every ninety-five cubic 
feet in the hold of a vessel was therefore equal to one ton 
carrying capacity. 

36. The granting of a register to a ship by the state 
of Maryland was an act of sovereignty, and the great ad- 
vantage of registry is the information every person may 
obtain of the true relations and circumstances of the ship. 
Maryland as a sovereign power adopted all the principles of 
the ancient laws of navigation, and established many others, 
which afforded precedents for the national legislature in 
enacting laws of shipping after the adoption of the national 
constitution. In Maryland, as in other sovereignties in 
Europe, the register, flag, and pass or clearance of a ship 
were taken as proof of her nationality, in observance of the 
ancient principle laid down by the English court of admi- 
ralty, " that the flag and pass are so conclusive of the ship's 
nationality, that no counter evidence can be admitted." In 
1784, the flags of thirteen distinct American sovereignties, 



196 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

to the great surprise of the old dynasties of Eu rope, streamed 
over the high seas, carrying goods, wares, and merchandise 
from one nationality to another. 

37. Ships of Maryland were not allowed to receive car- 
goes on board without first obtaining a register and permit 
from a naval officer. A violation of this law led to the for- 
feiture of the ship, with all her guns, ammunition, tackle, 
apparel, and furniture ; the same penalty was incurred if 
the ship should depart from port without a clearance or 
pass, and the master of the vessel, on application to a naval 
officer for clearance, was required to furnish on oath fair 
manifests, in duplicate, containing the marks, number, and 
contents of all boxes, hogsheads, barrels, and packages on 
board. 

38. If any person should forge or counterfeit any regis- 
ter, clearance, certificate, or permit granted to a ship of Ma- 
ryland, he was liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred 
pounds, to imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or 
corporal punishment not exceeding thirty-nine lashes. 

39. If any person connected with a registered ship or 
vessel of Maryland, as owner, master, or mariner, should 
willfully cast away, burn, or sink such ship or vessel, or em- 
ploy others to do the same, he was liable to be adjudged 
guilty of felony, and to suffer death without benefit of 
clergy. 

40. Every naval officer of the state,before entering upon 
the duties of his office, was required to give bond in the sum 
of five thousand pounds for the faithful performance of his 
duties. Certain foreign coin was made the current money 
of the state, and all duties on tonnage, entering and clearing 
of ships, all fines and forfeitures, and fees of office imposed 
by law, were made payable in foreign gold and silver coin. 

41. It was the law that, if any master of a merchant ship 
or other vessel, during his being abroad, should force his 
apprentices or any mariner on shore, or willfully leave him 



MARINE LAWS OF MARYLAND. 197 

behind at any port or place out of the state, or refuse to 
bring him home, if in condition to return, such master 
should forfeit fifty pounds current money, or suffer twelve 
months' imprisonment, or both, at the discretion of the 
court. 

42. It was not lawful for a mariner or seaman belonging 
to a vessel of Maryland to go and remain on shore at Balti- 
more Town,at any time between sunset and daybreak, with- 
out leave in writing from the master of the vessel to which 
he belonged, and no inhabitant of the town was allowed to 
entertain such mariner or seaman, within the time afore- 
said, without permission, under the penalty of five pounds 
current money for every offense. Such were some of the 
marine laws of Maryland in force during the time she exer- 
cised the prerogative of sovereignty, under the articles of 
confederation and perpetual union. 

43. In 1784 Maryland had made one hundred and fifty 
years of history. Her venerable colonists had long since 
rested from their labors ; her stalwart men and noble moth- 
ers of the preceding century had given their life-work to 
the state and sunk to rest, and babes by degrees had grown 
up and assumed the cares of life. In looking through the 
long array of years that covered the distance back to the 
first settlement of the state, the citizens learned to gird on 
the armor of true manhood, energy, and faith. Nobly they 
commemorated the virtues of ancestral worth, and, taking up 
their own work, labored for country, race, and posterity. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

1785-1794. 

Governor SmaUwood. — Baltimore enlarged. — Towns erected. — General Wil- 
liams. — Death of Thomas Stone. — Cumberland erected. — Turnpike Roads. 
— Governor Howard. — Washington City. — Braddock's Road. — Territory 
of Columbia. 

1. Ox the 17th of November, 1785, Major-General Wil- 
liam Smalhvood, a prominent leader of the old Maryland 
line during the war of the revolution, was elected governor 
of Maryland. 

2. In this year a compact, made by commissioners ap- 
pointed by the general assembly of Virginia and others ap- 
pointed by the state of Maryland, was ratified and confirmed 
to settle the jurisdiction and navigation of the Potomac 
and Pocomoke Rivers, and that part of the Chesapeake Bay 
that lies within the state of Virginia. George Mason and 
Alexander Henderson were the commissioners on the part 
of Virginia, and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Thomas 
Stone, and Samuel Chase on the part of Maryland. 

3. In the compact Virginia disclaimed all right to im- 
pose any toll, duty, or charge on any vessel sailing through 
the capes of the Chesapeake to the state of Maryland. Any 
vessel, inward or outward bound, might freely enter any of 
the rivers in Virginia as a harbor, or as a place of safety 
against an enemy ; also the parts of the Chesapeake within 
that state as well as the Pocomoke River. 

4. The state of Maryland agreed in turn that any ves- 
sel belonging to Virginia might freely enter any of the rivers 



THE POTOMAC MADE A COMMON HIGHWAY. 19«J 

of Maryland, as a harbor, or for safety against an enemy, 
without the payment of any port duty or any other charge. 

5. Vessels of war, the property of either state, should 
not be subject to the payment of any duties when sailing 
within the waters of the two sovereignties ; and vessels not 
exceeding forty feet keel, nor fifty tons register, the prop- 
erty of any citizens of either state, having on board the pro- 
duce of one state or the other, or both, might trade in any 
part of either state by permit from a naval officer, without 
being subject to port charges. 

6. All merchant vessels navigating the Potomac were 
required to enter and clear at some Naval office on the 
river, according to the laws of the state in which such entry 
or clearance might be made. When any vessel should make 
an entry in both states, such vessel was subject to tonnage 
dues in each state, only in proportion to the commodities 
carried to or taken from such state. 

7. The Potomac was made a common highway for navi- 
gation and commerce to the citizens of the two states, and 
of the United States, as well as to all other persons in amity 
with the said states, trading to or from Virginia or Mary- 
land. 

8. The citizens of each state respectively had full prop- 
erty in the shores of the Potomac adjoining their lands, 
with all the advantages thereunto belonging, with the privi- 
lege of carrying out wharves and other improvements so as 
not to obstruct navigation. The right of fishing was made 
common to all citizens of each state, provided the common 
right exercised by those of the one state might not dis- 
turb the fisheries on the shores of the other. 

9. Light-houses, beacons, buoys, and other necessary 
signals were erected and maintained upon the Chesapeake 
between the sea and the mouths of the rivers Potomac and 
Pocomoke, and upon the former river, at the joint expense 
of both states. 



200 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

10. All piracies, crimes, and offenses committed on the 
waters of the Potomac River by the citizens of either state 
against the citizens of the other, were made punishable in 
the courts of the state of which the offender was a citizen ; 
and all piracies, crimes, and offenses, committed by persons 
not citizens of either state upon persons not citizens of 
either state, were made punishable in the courts of the state 
to which the offender should first be brought. 

11. The general assembly of Maryland, being of opinion 
that this compact was made on just and mutual principles, 
for the true interest of both states, confirmed it on the 12th 
of March, 1786, as well calculated " to perpetuate harmony, 
friendship, and good offices, so essential to the prosperity 
and happiness of the people." 

12. At the beginning of the year 1785, it was plainly 
seen that Baltimore Town had grown so rapidly and ac- 
quired a commercial importance so decided that a decline 
in these particulars was impossible. Many large additions 
of land had been made to the town since its erection in 
1729, and others were offered by its most substantial citi- 
zens. When the first Lord Baltimore explored the Chesa- 
peake, one hundred years before the foundation of the city 
of Baltimore was laid, little did he know of the extent of the 
wealth that covered the beds of its coves and its tributaries ; 
and he could not imagine that a great city, bearing his own 
name, would soon arise from the wealth of the Chesapeake, 
the wheat lands, and the coal mountains of the western part 
of the province. The docks and piers of the city were al- 
ready claiming all the surplus productions of the state, and 
also levying tribute upon those of new and boundless terri- 
tories hundreds of miles beyond the great chain of the Alle- 
ghanies. 

18. Adventurers.and strangers from all parts were flock- 
ing into the town ; many different languages were spoken 
on her wharves, in her streets, counting-rooms, and parlors ; 



"PALMER'S ISLAND." 201 

and, on account of their intelligence and refinement, her 
citizens might have been styled the Athenians of America. 

14. In this year it was represented to the general assem- 
bly of the state, by the petition of the principal inhabitants 
of the town, that Colonel John Eager Howard and George 
Lux, Esq., had voluntarily offered to grant to the commis- 
sioners of the town, and their successors, in fee simple, a 
parcel of ground contiguous thereto for the purpose of a 
burying-ground " for strangers and others who might there- 
after depart this life among them," provided the consent of 
the legislature could be obtained for that purpose. 

15. The general assembly answered the petitioners in a 
short preamble to the effect that they were desirous of pro- 
moting the laudable and pious purposes of the citizens, and 
enacted that the burying place petitioned for should be 
used and occupied "as a place of common interment for 
strangers, poor people, and negroes, who may die in the 
town, and for no other purpose." 

16. In the same year it was represented that Robert 
Young Stoakes, late of Harford County, deceased, did, in his 
lifetime, survey and lay out into lots a parcel of ground at 
the mouth of the Susquehanna River for a town, and called 
the same by the name of Havre de Grace. Many persons 
had purchased lots and made considerable improvements 
upon them, and Clement Brooke, the executor of the de- 
ceased, was authorized by law to convey by deed to the 
commissioners of the town, and their successors, such lots 
as had been laid out for public purposes ; but, Baltimore 
attracting the trade of both Maryland and Pennsylvania, 
the town ceased to grow, and is still a small place. In the 
year 1608 Captain John Smith visited the site of Havre de 
Grace, and, burying one of his companions named Palmer 
on the island at the mouth of the Susquehanna, bestowed 
upon it the name of " Palmer's Island." 

17. In 17H6 a town at the mouth of Conococheague, in 



202 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Washington County, was erected. General Otho Holland 
Williams, who won great honors in the battles of the Mary- 
land line during the revolution, owned a tract of land called 
" Ross's Purchase," and another adjoining called " Leeds," 
contiguous to the mouth of the creek. From the advan- 
tages of navigation from the head branches of the Potomac 
to the mouth of said creek, and the great prospect of the 
navigation of the river being extended to tidewater, Gen- 
eral Williams was encouraged to lay out a part of his land 
to be erected into a town. He had contracted with the 
commissioners of the county to build a warehouse on the 
land, and to furnish scales and weights for the inspection of 
tobacco. He therefore prayed that a law be passed to lay 
out a town on the land, and the legislature, being of opinion 
that the erection of a town at the mouth of the creek might 
be convenient and beneficial to the public, granted his 
prayer, passing a law for the erection of a town called Wil- 
liamsport. This town grew slowly ; but the site, as de- 
scribed by an ancient traveler, was beautiful and romantic. 
" Williamsport," said he, " is situated on the bank of the 
Potomac, which is one fourth of a mile wide precisely, 
where Big Conococheague empties into the river. The 
prospect here is romantic and beautiful. I crossed the river 
in a flat — twenty minutes on the water. While crossing, I 
saw two wagons fording the river with safety." 

18. Thomas Stone, one of the Maryland signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, died in 1787. He was born 
in Charles County in 1743. 

19. On the 20th of January, 1787, an act was passed by 
the legislature " for erecting a town at or near the mouth of 
Will's Creek, in Washington County. Thomas Beall owned 
a tract of land called "Walnut Bottom," contiguous to the 
mouth of the creek, and had been induced to lay out ground 
for a town. Andrew Bruce, Daniel Cresap, George Dent, 
John Lynn, and Evan Gwinn were appointed by law to 



CUMBERLAND ERECTED. 203 

survey a quantity of land not exceeding two hundred acres, 
a part of the tract called Walnut Bottom, and lay out the 
same into lots, streets, lanes, and alleys. The main streets 
running in the direction of the river were to be not less than 
eighty feet wide, and the streets crossing the main streets 
were not to be less than sixty feet wide. The town was to 
be called and known by the name of Cumberland. 

20. " The town of Cumberland," said an old traveler, " is 
a handsome little place with many good buildings in it. 
It is situated on the north branch of the Potomac River, 
affording an opportunity for the erection of several mer- 
chant mills. It is bounded in front by spurs of the Alle 
ghany Mountains ; on the rear, the right, and the left, by 
the Little Dog Mountains, the whole affording, when on the 
neighboring hills, a pleasant, lively, and romantic appear- 
ance. On a high eminence stand the ruins of old Fort Cum- 
berland, which take the mind back to Braddock's war." 

21. The people of Maryland in early times were active 
and zealous in the establishment of schools and the encour- 
agement of learning, but none the less so in the protection 
of inventors of new and useful machinery intended for good 
work and economy of labor. 

22. Oliver Evans, of Newcastle, Delaware, miller, rep- 
resented to the legislature of Maryland, in 1787, that he 
had " invented, discovered, and introduced into exercise " 
two machines for the use of merchant mills, one of which 
was called " an elevator," calculated to hoist grain from 
the lower floor of the mill, and meal or flour from the 
burs, to the upper floor or loft of such mill. The other 
was called " a hopper-boy," so constructed as to spread the 
meal or flour over the said upper floor to cool, gather it up 
again, and carry it to the bolting hopper, as well as pay all 
other attention to this work without the assistance of man- 
ual labor. He invented another machine called " a steam- 
carriage," so constructed as to move by the power of steam 



204 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

and the pressure of the atmosphere, for the purpose of con- 
veying burdens without the use of horses or other animals. 
The legislature, considering that these inventions would tend 
to simplify and make cheap the manufacture of flour, one of 
the principal staples of the state, enacted that the inventor 
should have the sole right of making and selling these ma- 
chines in the state for the term of fourteen years. These 
machines are still in use in all the flour mills of Maryland, 
and are so indispensable in the manufacture of good flour 
that their use can not be discontinued. Soon after the pas- 
sage of the law for the protection of the inventor, these 
machines found their way into all the merchant mills of the 
United States. The invention of the steam-carriage was 
protected by the same law, but it turned out to be useless to 
the public, and therefore profitless to the inventor. 

23. In 1787 an act was passed to lay out several turn- 
pike-roads in Baltimore County. One was to be made 
from Baltimore Town toward Frederick Town, sixty-six feet 
wide, and on as straight a line between the two places as 
the nature of the country would permit. Another was to 
be made from Baltimore Town to Reister's Town ; a third 
from the latter place to Westminster ; a fourth from Reis- 
ter's Town toward Hanover Town, in Pennsylvania ; and a 
fifth from Baltimore Town toward York Town, in the same 
state. General Otho Holland Williams, Charles Ridge- 
ly, Benjamin Nicholson, James Gittings, and Daniel Bowley 
were appointed commissioners of review of these roads, and 
they were all finally finished. The Avealth poured into Balti- 
more from these great roads gave that city the capacity to 
attract the principal trade of Maryland, as well as that of 
an extensive portion of Virginia and Pennsylvania. These 
roads put the city' of Baltimore on a still higher and 
firmer footing with respect to trade and commerce, from 
which she did not fall ; building went on rapidly ; her 
boundaries increased, and her citizens plainly saw that the 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION REVISED. 205 

foundation of the city had been wisely laid in the right 
place. 

24. In this year also the post-road from Baltimore to 
Havre de Grace was straightened, cleared, stoned, and 
grubbed, forty feet wide, under the superintendence of Colo- 
nel John Eager Howard, James Calhoun, William Smith, 
Gabriel Christie, and Samuel Griffith. 

25. On the 26th of May, 1787, the legislature of the 
state appointed Hon. James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas 
Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Francis Mercer, and Luther 
Martin, Esquires, to meet such deputies in Philadelphia as 
might be appointed by the other states " to revise the fed- 
eral system," and to join with them in considering such al- 
terations and further provisions as might be necessary to 
render the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies 
of the union. 

26. From the middle of May to the 17th of September, 
when it adjourned, this convention, generally called the 
Federal Convention of 1787, remained in session to revise 
the articles of confederation and perpetual union, with 
General Washington as chairman. As a result of its la- 
bors, the present constitution of the United States, with 
the exception of several amendments since made, was 
adopted as the organic law of the nation. It was finally 
ratified by all the states of the Union, and in this they 
delegated to the government of the United States many 
of their sovereign powers, reserving to the state govern- 
ments the control of their internal affairs. Among these 
was the power to register ships and other vessels, regulate 
commerce between the states, emit bills of credit, coin 
money, and make treaties. 

27. No state, without the consent of Congress, could lay 
duties on imports and exports after the adoption of the 
federal constitution. Before its adoption, Congress could 
not lay such duties without the consent of the states. 



206 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

28. On the 21st of November, L788, Colonel .John Eager 
Howard was elected governor of Maryland, the legislature 
baving mel <>n the 3d of the same month. 

"l\). Under the adminisl ration of Governor Howard many 
ads were passed and approved for the relief of disabled 
Revolutionary soldiers, the poor in several counties, and 
prisoners confined in jail for debl ; and many liberal acts 
for the better administration of justice among* the people, 
were spread out upon (he statute books which have not be- 
come obsolete, nor have they been repealed. 

80. Under his administration, during the session of the 
legislature of 1788, it was enacted that the representatives 
of the state in i he Congress of the United States, appointed 

to assemble in New York on the first Wednesday oi' Mareh, 
l?N ( .), he authorized and required, on the part of Maryland, 
to cede to the ( 'on egress of t he United States any district in 
the state, not exceeding ten miles square, Tor the seat of 

t he general government, 

31. On the 28th of April, 1788, the constitution of the 
United Slates was ratified by the people of Maryland in 
convention at Annapolis, and on the 6th of April, L789, 
George Washington, of Virginia, was elected presidenl of 

the United Stales by the electoral votes of the states, cast, 
at New York ; and John Adams, of Massachusetts, vice- 
president. Washington was inaugurated at New York, on 
the 30th of April, 1789, as first presidenl of the United 

States. 

32. On Christinas day, L789, an act was passed by the 
legislature of Maryland to ereot into a Separate municipal- 
ity all thai part, of Washington Count) which lies to the 

westward of Sideling Hill Creek, to he called Allegany 

County ; and on the same day it was enacted that all sher- 
iffs in Maryland should keep in the jail of their respective 

counties such prisoners as might he committed thereto 
under the authority of the United States. 



GEORGE PLATER ELECTED GOVERNOR. 207 

:!:>. In the short preamble to an act passed at November 
session, 1790, the legislature declared that " the experience 
of commercial nations for several ages had fully evinced 
the utility of well regulated banks," and therefore enacted 
that a bank be established and incorporated in Baltimore 
Town, by the name of the Bank of Maryland. 

34. In the same year William Paca was appointed judge 
of the United States District Court in Maryland ; Richard 
Potts, district attorney ; Colonel Nathaniel Ramsey, mar- 
shal ; Captain Joshua Barney, clerk of the court ; General 
Otho Holland Williams, collector of the port of Baltimore ; 
Robert Purviance, naval officer ; and Robert Ballard, sur- 
veyor. These were the first federal appointments made in 
Maryland, under the new constitution of the United States, 
by President Washington. 

35. In this year also Congress selected a district for the 
scat of the national government, ten miles square, extending 
on both sides of the Potomac River, and embracing portions 
of Maryland and Virginia, including, also, the towns of 
Alexandria and Georgetown. The square was called "the 
territory of Columbia." The soil of Maryland was selected 
as the site of the new " federal city " to be called " Wash- 
ington city," in honor of the first president of the United 
States and "father of his country." 

:}(). On the 14th of November, 1791, George Plater, 
Esq., was elected governor of Maryland. The legislature 
which met on the 7th of the same month declared that, by 
the declaration of rights, all gifts, sales, or devises of land, 
exceeding two acres, to any religious sect, order, or denomi- 
nation, for the support of the same, are void without the 
leave of the legislature. It was represented to this body 
therefore that, while the lands called East Nottingham and 
West Nottingham, lying in Cecil County, Maryland, were 
held to be within the bounds of Pennsylvania, and subject 
to the government thereof, a patent was granted by the 



208 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

proprietary of Pennsylvania for forty aeres of land lying 
in the said East Nottingham to four persons as trustees, for 
the use of the society of people called Quakers. Also a cer- 
tificate for five acres and one hundred and twelve perches 
of land lying in West Nottingham was taken up under the 
government of Pennsylvania for the use of the same so- 
ciety ; but a patent could not be constitutionally granted 
to the society for the same. As an act of justice, there- 
fore, to protect this religious society from the consequences 
that might, even at that late day, grow out of the old boun- 
dary troubles between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the 
chancellor of Maryland was directed to issue a patent to 
the claimants of these lands, that they might be held for 
ever in trust for the use of the society. 

37. In 1792 President Washington caused a new city 
to be laid out on the soil of Maryland, comprehending all 
the lands beginning on the east side of Rock Creek, at a 
stone standing in the middle of the road leading from 
Georgetown to Bladensburg ; thence along the middle of 
the said road to a stone standing on the east side of the 
reedy branch of Goose Creek ; thence southeasterly, making 
an angle of sixty-one degrees and twenty minutes with the 
meridian, to a stone standing in the road leading from Bla- 
densburg to the Eastern Branch ferry ; thence south to a 
stone eighty poles north of the east-and-west line already 
drawn from the mouth of Goose Creek to the Eastern 
Branch ; thence east parallel to the said east-and-west line, 
to the Eastern Branch ; thence with the waters of that 
branch, Potomac River, and Rock Creek to the beginning. 
These are the original boundary lines of the city of Wash- 
ington. 

38. On Monday, the 2d of April, 1792, the legislature 
of Maryland met at Annapolis, the permanent capital of 
the state ; and on the 3d of the same month elected Thomas 
Sim Lee governor for a second term. 



A LAW TO PROTECT WOOD-LANDS. 209 

39. At this time the mountains in Western Maryland 
were frequently set on fire. The growth of young timber 
was much injured by this barbarous practice ; the farms 
adjacent to the mountains were greatly endangered, and 
many lives were lost in the attempt to check the destructive 
progress of the flames. It was at length brought to the 
notice of Governor Lee and the legislature of 1792, that 
the growth of young timber, and the farms situated on and 
adjacent to the South Mountain, lying partly in Frederick 
County and partly in Washington County, and the North 
Mountain, lying in Washington County, as well as all moun- 
tains west of the North Mountain, were equally injured and 
endangered. A law was therefore passed imposing a fine 
of fifty pounds on any person or persons who might set 
fire to any of the mountains designated, provided that 
it did not extend to persons setting fire to their own lands, 
if it went no further. 

40. " These mountains abound plentifully with good 
water," said a traveler of the olden time, " with an abun- 
dance of good chestnut rail-timber, a great deal of white- 
oak land, with grand old white-oak-trees on the same, and 
white and spruce pines in abundance. The Alleghany, as 
well as the surrounding mountains, are ruined by the prac- 
tice of setting fire to them. The destruction of the vast 
Alleghany forests done by fire is not to be described by a 
pen. If these forests had never been fired, they would have 
been a dark, extensive, timbered country of incalculable 
value, and the outlook would never have assumed the horrid 
aspect that now prevails over the region." 

41. In 1793 it was represented to the legislature that 
there had been a road from Turkey Foot road, above the 
fork of Jenning's Run, leading up the said run by Os- 
walt's saw-mill to the foot of Mount Pleasant, and from 
thence until it intersected Braddock's road at a tract of 
land called " The Mountain." This road had not been 



210 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

made a public road by law, and tbe people had been de- 
prived of the benefit of the same, to their great injury and 
inconvenience. It was enacted in this year that the road 
from Turkey Foot road to Braddock's road be made a public- 
road. 

42. In order to prevent the introducing of the plague 
or other contagious disease, the legislature authorized the 
governor to appoint an able and skillful physician as health 
officer for the port of Baltimore. 

43. This officer was required to visit and examine all 
foreign vessels, and all other vessels coining from suspected 
places, and, if necessary, to compel them to perform quar- 
antine for not less than ten days. 

44. Commissioners were appointed to purchase ten acres 
of land, in or near Baltimore town, and lay it out, for the 
establishment of a market for the sale of live stock. It was 
made unlawful to purchase or sell live stock on its way to 
market at any place within three miles of town. 

45. In 1798 an act was passed by the legislature to es- 
tablish a bank within the territory of Columbia. In the 
preamble it was asserted that the agricultural and commer- 
cial interests of the state might be promoted, and the prep- 
arations for the permanent residence of Congress facilitated, 
by the establishment of a bank within the territory of Co- 
lumbia and within the present jurisdiction of the state. 

40. On the 18th of September, 1793, the corner-stone of 
the north wing of the Capitol of the United States was laid 
in the territory of Columbia by General Washington in 
person. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
1795-1800. 

Insurrections. — Governor Stone. — Cokcsbury College. — Potomac Company. — 
Canals in Maryland. — Public Roads. 

1. In 1794 an insurrection was raised in Western Mary- 
land and Pennsylvania, having for its object the resistance 
of a tax laid upon whisky by the Congress of the United 
States. President Washington, exhausting all means in his 
power to bring the troubles to a peaceable end, resolved to 
oppose the insurgents by force of arms, and his call for 
troops was promptly answered from all parts of the State 
of Maryland. 

2. For three years and more the laws had been set at 
defiance, and, finally, the lawless people of the two states 
opposed the officers of Government by acts of violence. 
Requisitions were made upon Maryland and other states 
for fifteen thousand men to march at a minute's notice to 
the scene of action ; and, it being understood that the in- 
surgents were gathering at Cumberland for the purpose of 
marching on the state arsenal at Frederick, Governor 
Lee, in command of the Maryland troops, marched immedi- 
ately on Cumberland. The promptness with which the 
veterans of the old Maryland line answered the call of the 
state was without precedent, and upon the appearance of 
troops in the mountains, bearing the old flags of the revolu- 
tion, the insurgents dispersed, and the law took its course. 

3. In this year the legislature met on the 3d of Kovem- 



212 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

ber, and on the 17th of the same month John Hoskins Stone 
was elected governor of Maryland. 

4. The leading minds of the state still maintained that 
institutions for the liberal education of youth in the princi- 
ples of virtue, knowledge, and useful literature were of 
great importance to society. They were well calculated to 
raise up and perpetuate a succession of able and honest men 
for discharging the various offices and duties of the com- 
munity, both civil and religious ; and it was maintained 
that such institutions had merited and received the attention 
and encouragement of the best-regulated states. In this 
year Cokesbury College, at Abingdon, in Harford County, 
was incorporated. It was opened by Bishop Asbury in 
1787, and destroyed by fire on the 4th of December, 1795. 

5. In 1795 the Roman Catholic congregation in Balti- 
more was incorporated, the Right Reverend John Carroll, 
cousin to Charles Carroll of Carrollton, being bishop of 
Baltimore at the time. In the same year the German Re- 
formed congregation in the same town was incorporated 
under the pastoral direction of Rev. George Troldenier. 
All property of the congregation previously vested in trus- 
tees for its use was, by the act of incorporation, vested in 
the " elders, deacons, and trustees." 

6. In 1796 the delegates in the general assembly of 
Maryland declared in the preamble to an act, that it was 
found by experience that the good order, health, peace, and 
safety of large towns and cities could not be preserved, nor 
the evils and accidents to which they are subject avoided 
or remedied, without an internal power competent to estab- 
lish a police and regulation, fitted to their particular circum- 
stances, wants, and exigencies. It was enacted, therefore, 
that Baltimore Town be erected into a city by the name of 
"the city of Baltimore," and the inhabitants thereof con- 
stituted a body politic and corporate by the name of 
" the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore." It was the 



JOHN HENRY ELECTED GOVERNOR. 213 

law that the city council should consist of two branches, 
called the " first branch " and the " second branch " ; and 
that the first branch should consist of two members of " the 
most wise, sensible, and discreet of the people," from each 
ward. The second branch should consist of eight members 
chosen from the several wards, who were required to show 
on the books of the assessor an assessment of two thousand 
dollars worth of property. The person eligible to the office 
of mayor was required to possess the qualifications necessary 
to a seat in the first branch of the city council ; but no per- 
son was, in fact, eligible to the office of mayor who was not 
" of known integrity, experience, and sound judgment, 
twenty-five years of age, ten years a citizen of the United 
States, and five years a resident of the city prior to the 
election." 

7. Public improvements went on rapidly in the state. 
Turnpike companies were chartered, canals were projected, 
and a great number of public roads opened throughout the 
different counties. In this year an act was passed to "es- 
tablish a turnpike road from the city of Washington to 
Baltimore, and a subscription was opened for a capital of 
one hundred and sixty thousand dollars in shares of two 
hundred dollars each." The road was to be laid out be- 
tween the two cities on as straight a line as " the nature of 
the country and public convenience would admit, provided 
that it should not be carried through any building, garden, 
yard, or apple orchard." 

8. On the 13th of November, 1797, John Henry, Es- 
quire, was elected governor of Maryland. On the 4th of 
March, in the same year, General Washington, after two 
terms of office as president of the United States, retired to 
private life at Mount Vernon, his home in Virginia. 

9. In this year settlements were rapidly penetrating the 
mountains in the. western portions of Maryland; hamlets 
dotted the valleys ; and the plowshare was busy far be- 



214 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

yond Old Fort Cumberland. In this year, also, Baltimore, 
having become the second city in the state, an election was 
held which resulted in the choice of James Calhoun, as 
first mayor. 

10. In the same year the attention of the legislature 
was called to the fact that in Allegany County there had 
been a private road for twenty-seven years, leading from 
Cochran's store, at Jenning's Run, on the Turkey-foot 
road, up Will's Creek by Tomlinson's mill to the Penn- 
sylvania line. This old road intersected a public road lead- 
ing from Bedford, in Pennsylvania, and the people prayed 
the legislature that it might be made a public road, which 
" would greatly administer to the wants of the people." 
On the 20th of January, 1798, their prayer was granted, 
and a law passed making it " a public road for ever." 
Tomlinson's mill was nearer to the western boundary line 
of Maryland than any other mill at that time. 

11. " Several little farms," said an old traveler, in de- 
scribing the country around this mill, " appear along the 
bleak, barren hills." Referring again to the fire in the 
mountains, he said : " If the fire could be stopped, this part 
of the world would grow better. There are some places 
that contain limestone in the great Alleghany forest. With 
limestone and economical farmers, a great part of this now 
barren forest might become a handsome hill country. In 
short, nine tenths of the people in this great Union have 
no conception of the magnificence of the Alleghany Moun- 
tains. 

12. " I have rode through the Negro Mountains," con- 
tinued the traveler, " through the Shades of Death, through 
the Savage Mountains, and many other desperate mountains 
in this part of Maryland, but I have seen nothing half so 
savage and desperate as many of the people. Some of them 
appear but in a slight degree like the human race." 

13. In 1798 acts were passed to incorporate library com- 



ACTS OF INCORPORATION. 215 

panics in the city of Baltimore and in Somerset County. In 
the same year all that part of the old Frederick road near 
the city of Baltimore, on the lands of James Carroll and 
the Baltimore company, which branched from the road lead- 
ing from Baltimore to Elk Ridge Landing, and afterward 
united with the Frederick turnpike about one hundred and 
eighty perches west of Gwynn's falls, was closed up bylaw, 
and a road from Pratt Street extended was opened through 
the land of James Carroll till it intersected the road to Elk 
Ridge Landing. 

14. Acts were also passed in this year to incorporate the 
German Evangelical Reformed church, under the pastoral 
charge of Rev. William Otterbine, and the Presbyterian 
church, under that of Rev. Patrick Allison, both in Balti- 
more ; and another act was passed, on the 20th of January, 
1798, to establish a turnpike road from Baltimore through 
Frederick town to Elizabeth town and Williamsport, in 
Washington County. A company was also incorporated to 
make several turnpike roads through Baltimore and Fred- 
erick Counties until they intersected the division line be- 
tween Maryland and Pennsylvania. It was said at the time 
that the great quantity of heavy articles of the growth and 
produce of the country, and of foreign goods which were 
transported daily between Baltimore and the western coun- 
ties of Maryland and Pennsylvania, required an amendment 
of the highways. This could only be effected by artifi- 
cial beds of stone and gravel disposed in such manner as 
to prevent the wheels of carriages from cutting into the 
soil, the expense whereof will be very great. It was fur- 
ther said that it would be reasonable that those who would 
enjoy the benefits of such highways, should pay a com- 
pensation therefor ; and, believing that these great high- 
ways would be undertaken by an association of citizens, the 
act of incorporation was passed. The roads were made, and 
no state at that time other than Maryland could boast of 



216 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

such a system of highways leading to and from her com- 
mercial metropolis. 

15. In this year the Potomac company reported to the 
legislature that it had at great expense removed most of the 
obstructions in Potomac River, from Savage River to tide- 
water, except those at the Great Falls. The report said 
that considerable quantities of produce were then brought 
down by boats to William sport, Watt's Branch, and the 
Great Falls, by which much time, labor, and expense had 
been saved to the owners of such produce. That many ar- 
ticles were then transported through the locks at the Little 
Falls without paying any toll whatever ; and that the com- 
pany, to facilitate the transportation of produce down the 
river, had constructed an inclined plane from the lower end 
of the canal to the surface of the river below the Great 
Falls. By means of this machine, the company claimed 
that all articles could be let down, and those of not great 
bulk or weight taken up, with security and dispatch. They 
had built an extensive warehouse for storing such articles 
when found necessary, or when boats were not ready for 
transporting them down the river. It was also claimed that 
those then navigating the river received great benefit from 
the improvement of navigation by the labor and expendi- 
tures of the company, and it was considered just that they 
should receive some compensation for the benefits conferred 
upon the public. It was therefore enacted that toll collect- 
ors should be stationed at the mouth of Conococheague, at 
Watt's Branch, and the Great Falls, in the same manner as 
if the locks at the Great Falls were complete, provided that 
the company found means to store all produce when neces- 
sary, and carry it up and down the inclined plane when re- 
quired. 

16. In 1798 the United States narrowly escaped a war 
with France, on account of the outrages of that nation 
practiced upon American commerce. Charles C. Pinckney, 



BENJAMIN OGLE ELECTED GOVERNOR. 217 

United States minister to France, said to the French gov- 
ernment, called the Directory: "Millions for defense; not 
one cent for tribute ! " and preparations for war were ac- 
tively made by both nations. The French minister, resi- 
dent in this country, defied President Adams, and the com- 
mand of the American army was once more offered to Gen- 
eral Washington, who accepted the office, and came forth 
from his retirement at Mount Vernon in defense of his coun- 
try's honor. __He appointed John Eager Howard, of Mary- 
land, as one of his principal officers ; but happily the subjects 
of dispute were settled and war avoided by the delicate di- 
plomacy brought to bear by the American administration. 

17. On the 14th of November, in this year, Benjamin 
Ogle was elected governor of the state. In this year a 
small remnant of the Choptank Indians still lingered on 
their reservation in Dorchester County, and a few of the 
Nanticokes in Somerset. On the 18th of January, 1799, 
commissioners were appointed to repair to the Indian set- 
tlement on Secretary's Creek, in Dorchester, and contract 
in behalf of the state with the Choptank Indians for the 
purchase of the right, title, and interest of the said Indians 
to all their lands and tenements. The purchase was made 
for annuities, to be paid by the state to each Indian and his 
descendants, according to the laws of the state, provided 
the title to all their lands was transferred by them ; after 
which, one hundred acres of land, with sufficient woodlands, 
were set apart for all those who might remain upon it. 

18. On the 20th of January, 1799, an act was passed to 
incorporate a medical faculty, or society, in the state of 
Maryland. It was believed that the establishment of a 
medical society of physicians and surgeons in the state, 
would be attended with the most beneficial and salutary 
consequences by promoting and disseminating medical 
knowledge, and might, in future, prevent the citizens from 
risking their lives in the hands of ignorant practitioners or 

10 



218 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

pretenders to the healing art. Five physicians, or about 
that number, in each county of the state, were, by law, 
declared to be one community, corporation, and body poli- 
tic for ever, by and under the name and title of " the Med- 
ical and Chii urgical Faculty of the State of Maryland." 

II). On the 7th of December, 1799, an act was passed 
to incorporate a company for the purpose of cutting a canal 
between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. It was then 
believed and foreseen that such an improvement would be 
attended with very beneficial effects to those parts of the 
state of Maryland that lie on the bay of Chesapeake, and 
on the waters that empty themselves into the said bay, as 
also to the agricultural interest thereof in general. Many 
persons were willing to subscribe large sums of money to 
effect a work so useful, and it was soon commenced and 
completed. 

20. On the 14th of December, 1799, the illustrious Gen- 
eral Washington died at Mount Vernon, in the state of 
Virginia, and in the same year William Paca, one of the 
Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence, died, 
in the sixtieth year of his age. 

21. On the 3d of January, 1800, the assembly of Mary- 
land enacted that a road be laid out in Allegany County, 
on the ridge, to the Virginia line. This road was to leave 
the Morgantown road between Aza Beall's and William 
Coddington's, was to be not less than thirty feet wide, and 
opened at the expense of those who petitioned for it. It 
was deemed and taken to be a public highway. 

22. " I rallied my horse Cumberland," said a traveler 
on the ridge above mentioned, " and moved on twelve 
miles. Every mile or two was a farm just opening, gener- 
ally white-oak land easily worn out, but can be kept good 
by limestone and stone-coal after all the wood is gone. 
The road is no better than any other part of the Alleghany 
Mountains, and the hills are long and steep, forming angles 



T.VO METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES INCORPO RATED. 219 

from fifteen to twenty degrees. Cumberland is hard put 
to it to get up some of these long pulls. I made seven 
miles more into Monongahela County, Virginia, and thence 
twelve miles to Monongahela River ; made a ferry-boat of 
old Cumberland, and got over into Morgantown." 

23. In 1800 it was represented to the general assembly 
of Maryland that there had been a road laid out in Allegany 
County, from a tract of land called "the Bear Camps," 
through Selby sport to the Virginia line in a direction to 
Morgantown, at a place called Jenning's Cabin, and kept 
in repair as a public road for several years. This, by law, 
was made a public road in the same year ; and another 
road in the same county was, by law, made public, leading 
from Cumberland to Sideling Hill Creek, in the near direc- 
tion to Hancocktown, in Washington County. 

24. " I proceeded one mile to the Potomac River," said 
the same traveler, " and forded the same just where the 
sweet waters of Bath enter the river. I thence proceeded 
to the top of Sideling Hill, and looked on the new little 
town of Hancock ; the fertile river bottoms and the sur- 
rounding mountains affording a handsome, alluring, and 
romantic prospect. I proceeded on the new road from 
Hancock to Cumberland to where the old and new Cum- 
berland roads fork, and thence eight miles on the old road. 

25. " I am now at Sideling Hill Creek," said he, " in 
Allegany County, Maryland. What a noble asylum this 
must have been to the Indians in the time of Braddock's 
war ! too much so, indeed, I fear." 

26. In 1800 the government of the United States took 
formal possession of the territory, or " District of Colum- 
bia," and Congress met there for the first time in Novem- 
ber of the same year. 

27. Two Methodist Episcopal churches in Baltimore, 
known by the names of Light Street and Old Town Meth- 
odist churches, were incorporated by a law passed on the 



220 TIIE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

19th of December, 1800, under the style and title of "the 
Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Churches of the City 
of Baltimore." The first church in Light Street was de- 
stroyed by fire ; the new one was dedicated in 1797, and 
incorporated as above. James McCannon, William Haw- 
kins, Isaac Burneston, Samuel Owings, John Ilagerty, Job 
Smith, Philip Rogers, Walter Simpson, and Caleb Hewitt 
were the corporators. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
1800-1812. 

Governor Mercer. — The Plague in Maryland. — Education.— Colleges. — Gov- 
ernor Wright. — Monument to Washington. 

1. Ox the 9th of November, 1801, John Francis Mercer 
was elected governor of Maryland. " To prevent extension 
of the plague," reads the preamble to an act passed on the 
olst of December, "or other malignant contagious diseases 
which may be imported into the state, is an object of great 
importance to the welfare and commerce of the people. 
Humanity calls for the protection and care of those who 
may come into the state afflicted with any plague or other 
malignant disease ; and a place proper for their reception 
should be immediately built." To prevent the spread of 
contagion, it was found necessary to condemn a quantity of 
land for the building of a lazaretto, or hospital, for the re- 
ception of persons infected with contagious diseases. It 
was enacted, therefore, that the mayor- and city council of 
Baltimore purchase from the owners "any land on the 
waters of the Patapsco River contiguous to the city of 
Baltimore, for the purpose of building thereon a lazaretto 
and storehouse." % 

2. The work authorized by this act was speedily ex- 
ecuted, but not before it was in demand. The winter of 
1801-'2 was generally mild and open, and during the greater 
part of it disease did not much prevail. During the sum- 
mer months a mild form of cholera prevailed over the state 
east of the Blue Ridge, and was mostly fatal in the case of 



222 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

children. As autumn approached, the number of the sick 
increased, being affected with remitting and intermitting 
fevers. In October a large number of persons, without any- 
perceptible cause to produce the change, fell into colic, 
attended with the most violent pain. For want of a better 
name, this disease was called "the plague.'" 

3. The cold winter of 1802-'3 somewhat checked the 
plague, but brought on other forms of disease of a more in- 
flammatory character. The next spring was long, cool, and 
wet, succeeded by one of the driest summers ever remem- 
bered in Maryland. In .April severe frosts almost entirely 
destroyed the fruit of every kind. That which escaped the 
withering nips of the frost fell from the violence of hail- 
storms, the most terrible of which fell on the 16th of May. 
Its direction was from the north, and it destroyed almost 
all the early vegetables in the gardens over which it passed, 
cutting down all the grain that stood in its way. 

4. Its ravages in the towns were very great. All the 
window panes exposed to the north were broken, and so 
sudden and unexpected was its approach that the damage 
was all done before it could be prevented. For two or 
three weeks preceding the storm the weather had been ex- 
ceedingly warm. The morning on which it happened was 
unusually warm, and continued so until the black clouds, 
from which the hail showered, arose and discharged their 
contents. 

5. The dry weather commenced very early in May ; and, 
after the hail-storm, continued throughout the summer. 
Scarcely a full crop of any kind was gathered ; the grass, 
even in the low meadows, was parched ; the corn, fired ; 
and wheat and rye, for want of moisture, failed to fill. It 
was predicted by many that the people would be unhealthy 
for want of fruit ; but the reverse was the case, except the 
usual cases of bilious fever and cholera infantum. 

6. In autumn, chills and fevers prevailed along the Po- 



THE PLAGUE IN MARYLAND. 223 

tomac and other rivers, but beyond the Catoctin Mountain, 
and in the valley between that and the South Mountain or 
Blue Ridge to the Pennsylvania line, the country was as 
healthy as it was ever known to be. In the tract of country 
bordered by the Potomac, the Monocacy, Callenger's Creek, 
and the Catoctin Mountain, twelve or fourteen miles in 
length, and in breadth eight or ten miles, the inhabitants were 
much afflicted with agues, chills, and the different tj^pes of 
the bilious fever. In many cases the attacks came on like a 
colic. As the cold weather advanced, the type of the dis- 
ease changed, and assumed the more terrible appearance of 
inflammatory disposition, ending in nervous fever. Cold 
weather commenced early in December, and heavy snows 
fell in January and February, which continued on the ground 
until March was far advanced. 

7. Many cases of violent inflammatory fever occurred, 
chiefly among the young, healthy, and robust, a number of 
which proved fatal ; and it appeared as if the disease and 
the powers of life gave way at the same time. 

8. In June, 1804, the epidemic appeared to gain ground. 
The vernal rains began about the last of March, and con- 
tinued generally through April. The first week of May 
was clear, the second was rainy, and a considerable quan- 
tity of rain fell in that month at different times. The rains, 
though almost continual, never fell in large quantities at a 
time, yet in the latter part of June there fell a 'large quan- 
tity in Virginia and the lower portions of Maryland. 

9. The Potomac River and the rivers and creeks on 
both sides of it were raised to a height which had never 
been known at that season of the year by the oldest people 
on their courses. The rise, however, did not last long. The 
waters collected rapidly, and as rapidly flowed away. On 
the Potomac the bottoms were inundated, and immense 
quantities of corn, rye, wheat, tobacco, hay, and fence-rails 
were lifted and swept away. In the interior of Maryland 



224 TII E HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

almost all the crop of bay, both timothy and clover, was 
lost. It was incredible to tell of the vast quantities of pro- 
duce which were lost by the floods and the want of sunshine. 
The destruction was confined to no particular locality. It 
was general ; and in some meadows twenty or thirty tons 
of hay were carried off, so as to effectually destroy all the 
vegetation over which it was scattered. This damaged 
hay and decaying vegetation under it formed innumerable 
hot-beds from which the most deleterious effluvia arose and 
filled the atmosphere. 

10. In this year vegetation of all kinds and fruits of 
every variety were superabundant, and physicians pre- 
dicted that from the use of plenty of ripe fruit the people 
would be healthy. The plentifulness of fruit may have 
had some effect upon the health of children ; for, in the first 
few weeks of the summer months, they were not so much 
subject to the attacks of the prevailing epidemic. In case 
of adults and the aged, an abundance of fruit did not ex- 
empt them from even the worst form of the epidemic ; 
much less, indeed, did it secure to them the blessings of 
health. 

11. So liberally did the fruit trees produce that there 
was scarcely an orchard that did not contain a greater 
number of the trees broken down by their overload of 
fruit, and scarcely a tree which had not several limbs 
snapped off. Every species of fruit was alike favored by 
the fertilizing weather, and so enriched was the soil by 
the rain and sun alternately that it produced too much. 
This great mass of vegetable matter sprang up, grew lux- 
uriantly, wasted, and decayed. Forming a body for the 
powerful sun to act upon, this mass of matter fermented, 
and impregnated the air with the principle of disease and 
death. 

12. Wheat in former years in most places weighed 
from sixty to sixty-four pounds to the bushel;, and some- 



THE "PLAGUE EXTENDING. 225 

times more ; but that of the harvest of 1804 rarely ex- 
ceeded fifty-six pounds. 

13. The ravages of the plague were confined principally 
to the vicinity of overflown grounds and drained mill- 
ponds, while remote situations in the more elevated, level, 
and poor lands remained healthy. The town of Bladens- 
burg, having extensive meadows adjoining it, which were in- 
undated while covered with a heavy crop of grass, suffered 
very considerably. Scarcely a person in the town escaped 
an attack of the plague, and many died with the most 
malignant symptoms. The same was the case in parts of 
the District of Columbia exposed to exhalations from the 
marshes and low grounds. Negroes occupied eight or ten 
small houses in the District situated near each other, to 
each of which was attached a vegetable garden, thickly set 
with cabbage, from which a great quantity of the leaves 
had fallen to the ground. From these decaying leaves a 
smell arose, and no doubt this exhalation caused the fever 
which prevailed among these negroes. Although the heavy 
rains washed away the filth from the streets of Washing- 
ton and Georgetown, the people did not escape the attacks 
of bilious fever, some of which were of a very high grade. 

14. Cases of bilious fever on the Potomac as high up as 
the Great Falls were in former years often attended with 
malignant symptoms, yet not always with black vomit. In 
1803, a stout, healthy man went from Washington to Alex- 
andria, in Virginia, during the time of the fever there, and 
returned the same day very much exhausted by the heat of 
the sun. He was soon seized with a chill, succeeded by a 
violent fever, which did not yield to the prescriptions of his 
physicians. On the third day black vomit came on, and con- 
tinued till the night of the foui'th day, when he died. In the 
same year, a lady in vigorous health living on a stream pass- 
ing through the District of Columbia, determined to protect 
her garden and dwelling by raising a wall to dam out the 



226 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

water. This work, for several days, she superintended in 
person, exposed to the rays of the sun, and protected only 
by an umbrella. In a few days she was attacked with an 
irregular intermittent fever, which, after four or five days, 
assumed a more continued form. She refused the services 
of a physician, and, the case assuming all the usual symp- 
toms of the plague, she died, perhaps for want of timely 
treatment. The plague was about the same in Baltimore 
and Alexandria as in the District of Columbia, and many 
persons fled from these places to the mountains of Western 
Maryland to escape it, to die, or to recover from it. In the 
winter of 1804- '5 health and peace once more returned to 
the people. 

15. In 1803 the legislature of Maryland met on the 7th 
of November, and on the 14th of the same month Robert 
Bowie was elected governor of the state. 

16. Believing that public institutions for the education 
of youth, under salutary regulations, were the means of 
raising up citizens eminent in science and virtue, the legis- 
lature, on the 7th of January, 1804, passed an act for found- 
ing a college in the city or precincts of Baltimore, by the 
name of " Baltimore College." This institution was 
founded and maintained " upon a most liberal plan," for 
the benefit of youth of every religious denomination, to be 
admitted to equal privileges and advantages of education, 
and to all the literary honors of the college, according to 
their merit. In the choice of a principal, no preference was 
to be given on account of his particular religious profes- 
sion ; but regard was to be had solely to his moral char- 
acter, literary abilities, and other qualifications to fill the 
place for which he was chosen. The same rule was to ap- 
ply in the choice of other officers of the institution, and the 
Right Reverend John Carroll was first named on the roll 
of trustees, associated with several leading ministers of the 
different Protestant denominations. 



ROBERT WRIGHT ELECTED GOVERNOR. 227 

IT. On the 10th of November, 1806, Robert Wright 
was elected governor of the state. 

18. From the year 1787 down to the year 1805, ten or 
twelve acts had been passed to encourage the building of 
turnpike roads in Maryland. In this latter year, it was 
represented to the legislature that by the several acts 
passed upon this subject the desirable object contemplated 
by former legislatures had not been obtained, and the pub- 
lic expectation had been entirely frustrated. After this 
year other companies were incorporated, and they soon be- 
gan to make the roads contemplated as well as to hurry on 
to completion such as had already been commenced. 

19. In 1807 an act was passed for founding a medical 
college in the city or precincts of Baltimore for the instruc- 
tion of students in the different branches of medicine. It 
was to be founded and maintained for ever upon a most lib- 
eral plan, for the benefit of students of every country and 
every religious denomination, who should be admitted to 
all the privileges and advantages of education and to all 
the honors of the college, according to their respective 
merits. 

20. In the same year the inhabitants of Elizabeth Town, 
in Washington County, represented to the general assem- 
bly of the state, that they had commenced building a 
church in the town, and that they had finished it, except a 
part of the steeple. In going thus far, they had con- 
tracted a debt, which, with the sum necessary to finish said 
steeple, would amount to two thousand dollars. They 
prayed, therefore, that a law might pass authorizing a lot- 
tery to raise the sum of money required, and the prayer 
was granted. A lottery was drawn, and it appears that 
only one thousand dollars was realized. In 1808 the rep- 
resentatives of this congregation again appeared before the 
legislature and prayed for another lottery for the purpose 
of finishing the steeple to their church, uid the prayer was 



228 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

also granted. In early provincial times lotteries were 
resorted to for raising money to be used in the cause of 
religion, and the precedent was observed in building a 
church in St. Paul's parish, Baltimore, in 1780, as well as 
in the cases of a large number of the old churches in the 
state. 

21. In 1808, also, sums of money were raised by lottery 
to repair Jerusalem church, at the head waters of Big Pipe 
Creek ; to rebuild Benjamin church, in Frederick County ; 
to build a school-house at Denton, in Caroline County, and 
to repair the parsonage and church belonging to the Ger- 
man Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Frederick Town. 

22. In 1809 the legislature assembled on the 5th of 
June, and Edward Lloyd took his seat as governor of the 
state. To this assembly it was represented that Jesse 
Hyatt, of Montgomery County, did formerly lay off a parcel 
of land into lots for the purpose of erecting a town, a great 
part of which had been since purchased. There being no 
record of the same, the titles of the proprietors of these 
lots had become precarious, and it was prayed that they 
might be surveyed, marked, bounded, and erected into a 
town. The prayer was granted, an act passed, and the 
town was laid out by Greenbury Howard. 

23. In 1810 the judges of the levy court of the same 
county were authorized by law to alter and make straight 
the public road leading from Rockville to the city of Balti- 
more, where the same passes over on the land of Philip 
Barton Key, provided a plat thereof was returned at the 
cost of that gentleman, and the same thereafter was deemed 
a public road. 

24. On the 6th of January, 1810, an act was passed 
"respecting a monument or statue to the memory of Wash- 
ington." It was made lawful for a number of distin- 
guished gentlemen named in the act to give their bond to 
the state of Maryland in the penalty of two hundred thou- 



DEATH OF SAMUEL CHASE. 229 

sand dollars before they undertook to act under the law. 
The design of the law was to raise by lottery a sum of 
money not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, clear 
of all expenses in drawing the lottery, and the condition 
of the bond was, that these gentlemen would well and 
truly apply so much of the money arising therefrom, within 
twelve months after the drawing, as would pay up the 
prizes drawn, and, within five years after the drawing, 
cause the money realized to be laid out in erecting a monu- 
ment to the memory of Washington in the city of Balti- 
more. 

25. After the new court-house then in course of erec- 
tion should be completed, the public square on North Cal- 
vert Street, on part of* which the old court-house stood, was 
appropriated for the monument, and the gentlemen desig- 
nated were empowered to fix upon or design such " a 
monument, statue, or mausoleum," as they might deem 
most proper. 

26. On the 19th of June, 1811, Samuel Chase, another 
Maryland signer of the Declaration of Independence, died, 
in the seventieth year of his age. He was born in Somer- 
set County in 1741. 

27. In order, as far as possible, to perpetuate the mem- 
ory of every spot of ground in Maryland over which Gen- 
eral Braddock passed in 1755, on his expedition to the 
" Great Meadows," it will be proper to refer to the site of 
Barnesville. 

28. In 1811 it was represented to the general assembly 
of the state, for the purpose of erecting Barnesville, in 
Montgomery, into a town, that the titles of the proprietors 
of the soil were precarious, and it was prayed that the 
same might be surveyed, marked, bounded, and erected into 
a town, under the superintendence of George B. Hays, 
Abraham S. Hays, and John Plummer. An act was ac- 
cordingly passed, and the site on which General Braddock 



330 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

encamped on the second night of his march through Mary- 
land was erected into a town " to be called and known by 
the name of Barnesville." 

29. On Monday, the 4th of November, in this year, the 
legislature met again at Annapolis, and Robert Bowie 
appeared for the second term as governor of the state. 
During this session it was represented that the " Methodist 
society " had at different times sustained much disturbance 
and vexation from disorderly persons, who had set up 
booths to sell liquors and other things near their meetings 
during divine service. An act was therefore passed on the 
4th of January, 1812, that whosoever from and after the 
passage of the act should erect a booth for the purpose of 
selling, or should sell or dispose of auy spirituous liquors, 
within two miles of any Methodist camp, or quarterly 
meeting in Queen Anne's, Talbot, Montgomery, and Som- 
erset Counties, during such meetings of the said Methodist 
society, should forfeit and pay the sum of twenty dollars. 

30. In this year, the legislature enacted that all able- 
bodied white male citizens, residents in the state, should 
be subject to do militia duty, except the vice-president of 
the United States, the officers, judicial and executive, of the 
government of the United States, the members of both 
houses of Congress, and a number of others holding office 
under the state and general governments. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
1812-1814. 

War of 1812.— The Chesapeake blockaded.— Defense of Baltimore. — Invasion 
of Washington. — Battle of Bladensburg. 

1. On the 18th of June, 1812, the Congress of the United 
States, in session in the District of Columbia, declared war 
against Great Britain. 

2. " Whereas," said President Madison, in a proclama- 
tion issued on the 19th, " the Congress of the United States, 
by virtue of the constitutional authority vested in them, 
have declared, by their act bearing date the 18th day of the 
present month, that war exists between the United King- 
dom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies 
thereof, and the United States of America and their terri- 
tories ; now therefore, I, James Madison, President of the 
United States of America, do hereby proclaim the same to 
all whom it may concern." 

3. In compliance with the act to regulate and discipline 
the militia of the state, passed on the 7th of January, 1812, 
the people of Maryland made immediately the most active 
preparations for war. The state was divided into military 
districts, a uniform was adopted by the state for her sol- 
diers, and companies, as well as regiments, suddenly ap- 
peared in every county. It was enacted that the uniform 
for the infantry of the state should be, for general officers, 
their aides-de-camp and brigade inspectors, long, dark-blue 
coats, faced with buff, buff collar and cuffs, yellow buttons 
and buff underclothes, long boots, and hats called chapeaux- 



232 TIIE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

de-bras. These were hats that could be flattened and put 
under the arm. 

4. The uniform for field, company, and staff officers 
was a long dark-blue coat edged with red, red collar and 
cuffs, white buttons ; dark-blue pantaloons, edged with red, 
for winter, and white underclothes for summer ; black gai- 
ters or half-boots, chapeaux-de-bras and black cockade. 
For non-commissioned officers and privates, short dark-blue 
coats, red cuffs and collar, white buttons, blue pantaloons, 
black gaiters, and shoes or half-boots. For riflemen, dark- 
green frocks or hunting shirts ; and for cavalry, short coats 
and pantaloons of dark-blue cloth, edged with red, long 
half-boots, and a helmet or cap of leather covered with 
bear-skin. The artillery uniform consisted of long dark- 
blue coats faced with red, red collar and cuffs, yellow but- 
tons, blue pantaloons, black gaiters or half-boots, and cha- 
peaux-de-bras. 

5. At the session of the legislature begun on Monday, 
the 2d of November, 1812, Levin Winder was elected gov- 
ernor of the state ; and on the 17th of December following 
an act was passed incorporating a company to make a turn- 
pike road from the District of Columbia to the city of 
Baltimore. 

G. On the 29th of December in this year an act was 
passed "for founding an university in the city or precincts 
of Baltimore, by the name of the University of Maryland." 
In the preamble to the act it was held that public institu- 
tions for the promotion and diffusion of scientific and lite- 
rary knowledge, under salutary regulations, could not fail to 
produce the most beneficial results to the state at large, by 
instilling into the minds and hearts of the citizens the prin- 
ciples of science and good morals. The College of Medi- 
cine of Maryland, which was founded in 1807, was author- 
ized "to constitute, appoint, and annex to itself" the other 
three colleges or faculties. These were the " Faculty of 



THE CHESAPEAKE BLOCKADED. 233 

Divinity," the " Faculty of Law," and the " Faculty of the 
Arts and Sciences," and the four faculties or colleges thus 
united were constituted a university by the name of " the 
University of Maryland." 

7. This institution was founded and maintained upon 
the most liberal plan for the benefit of students of every 
country and every religious denomination, admitted to 
equal privileges and advantages of education, and all the 
honors of the university, according to their merit. 

8. In 1813 the war between the United States and Great 
Britain, which was declared, as stated, on the 18th of June, 
1812, was in progress, and the enemy had indicated his 
design to take possession of the Chesapeake Bay. In the 
month of March the British Admiral Cockburn appeared in 
its waters, in command of six frigates and four ships of the 
line. He commenced hostilities against the unarmed inhab- 
itants along the shores and on the islands, finally extending 
his depredations to the burning of the towns of Havre de 
Grace on the western, and Georgetown, Fredericktown, and 
Frenchtown, on the eastern shore. 

9. On the 15th of July, in this year, the defenseless con- 
dition of the District of Columbia was brought to the at- 
tention of Congress in a preamble and resolution. It was 
declared that, if an attack should be made, the city of 
Washington would be in imminent danger. The fleet of 
the enemy was understood to be within a few hours' sail of 
the capital, and the immense value of public property ex- 
posed to destruction, the great value of the public records, 
and other deeply interesting considerations, rendered it im- 
portant that any invasion of the metropolis should be met 
with vigor. 

10. The principal cause of the war was the impressment 
of American seamen into the British service, by which many 
of this gallant and meritorious class of citizens had been 
snatched from the bosom of their families and carried into 



23-t THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

a cruel and afflicting bondage. It was an evil which could 
no longer be tolerated, and was in a high degree degrading 
to the United States as a nation. It was incompatible with 
their sovereignty, subversive of the main pillars of their in- 
dependence, and the long forbearance of the American gov- 
ernment under it had been mistaken for pusillanimity. 

11. In the summer of 1813 the Chesapeake Bay was 
blockaded by British fleets, contemplating an attack on 
Washington, Annapolis, and Baltimore. In defense of the 
state of Maryland two or three regiments of infantry, each 
with a company of artillery, marched to Fort McHenry for 
discipline, under the inspection of Major-General Samuel 
Smith, well known for his brave conduct on Mud Island in 
1777. 

12. The militia of Baltimore city and county stood high 
in the estimation of the general government and of the 
people generally. As regulars could not .be spared for the 
protection of the different seaports, the executive of the 
United States had to rely upon the militia of such places 
for their immediate defense. In placing reliance upon the 
militia of Baltimore he was not deceived, for the cheerful- 
ness with which they had attended the first calls to disci- 
pline was sufficient evidence that they would always be 
found at their post in time of need. 

13. Governor Winder, of Maryland, had done his duty. 
He had adopted every means in his power for the defense 
of the state. The locality of Baltimore was such that it 
could not be attacked by any considerable force without 
some hours 1 notice. To give the needful warning, swift- 
sailing boats were stationed at the mouth of the Patapsco, 
and the bay shore was also watched by detachments of cav- 
alry. All parts of the state were populous and patriotic, 
and would pour forth their hardy sons at a moment's notice. 

14. The British had put a stop to all intercourse with 
the city by water, and cut off a trade of immense value, so 



WASHINGTON AND BALTIMORE THREATENED. 235 

as to make scarce the common necessaries of life. No at- 
tempt, however, was made by the enemy to invade the in- 
terior of Maryland until the next year. 

15. In 1814 the enemy's design was plainly understood, 
which was an attack on Washington and Baltimore, but it 
could not be well determined from what direction the at- 
tack would come. The principal defense to be relied upon 
was militia, for only about one thousand regular troops were 
available. It was believed that the enemy would not make 
an attack on either place with less than five thousand men, 
and it would require ten thousand militia to oppose them. 

16. General Armstrong, secretary of war, said that the 
navigation of the Potomac was long and sinuous, and was 
uncertain in relation to the time its ascent might occupy, 
while that of the Patuxent was short and safe, and might 
be calculated with sufficient precision for military purposes. 
" If," said he, " the enemy should ascend the Potomac, his ob- 
ject would be unmasked. He at once declares his intention, 
and leaves the Americans to concentrate their whole force 
against him. If, on the other hand, he should ascend the 
Patuxent, his object would appear uncertain. In this case 
it might be either Baltimore or Washington. As long as 
the enemy's point of attack was unknown, so long must the 
American force remain divided." 

17. The general went on to say that these considerations 
suggested the preference that the enemy would probably 
give to the Patuxent, but that route was not without objec- 
tions. A separation from his fleet and a land march of 
tw T enty miles through a country covered with woods, and 
offering at every step strong positions for defense, was in- 
evitable ; and, these circumstances turned to proper account 
against him, his march would be much retarded, if not ab- 
solutely stopped. 

18. "This state of things," said he, "on which every 
wise general "will calculate, renders necessary a provision 



236 TH E HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

train, or the establishment of small intermediate posts to 
keep open communication with his shipping. The loss of 
these would make his situation perilous, and should the 
main battle be given near Washington, and be to him 
disastrous, or even doubtful, his destruction would be com- 
plete. After all, believing the enemy will not hazard the 
movement but with superior force, or one he thinks such, 
it is also believed he will prefer the route of the Patuxent." 

19. On the 12th of July in this year, the governor of 
Maryland was served with a requisition for six thousand 
men to march at a moment's notice, and he took active 
measures to comply with it. General Winder was soon 
authorized to call into service the whole of the quota of 
Maryland, in case of either actual or menaced invasion, 
which, with the Pennsylvania and Virginia troops, together 
with the regular infantry, cavalry, flotilla-men, and district 
militia, Mould amount to more than sixteen thousand 
men. 

20. The enemy's fleet had now spent more than twelve 
months in blockading the Chesapeake, and during that time 
had visited almost every river falling into that bay. They 
could have proceeded Avithout dropping anchor to within 
three hours' rowing and marching of Baltimore, within less 
of Annapolis, and, upon arriving off South River, could 
debark and be in Washington in thirty-six hours. The 
governor of Maryland issued orders for calling out three 
thousand of the drafts under a requisition made upon him 
on the 4th of July, and appointed Bladensburg as the place 
of rendezvous. He was also exerting himself to collect a 
force at Annapolis to cooperate toward the general defense. 

21. About the middle of August, 1814, a large increase 
of the British force arrived in the Chesapeake, and twenty- 
two of the enemy's ships proceeded up the bay to unite 
with his forces stationed at the mouth of the Patuxent 
River. The whole force soon began to ascend the river, 



AN ATTACK ON WASHINGTON CONTEMPLATED. 237 

and on the 19th landed at the village of Benedict, about 
forty miles to the southward of Washington. 

22. It was now evident that an attack on Washington 
was contemplated ; for the land route from Benedict was 
the worst one they could take to Baltimore or Annapolis, 
but the easiest and shortest to Washington. It was thought, 
however, that the object of the enemy in proceeding to 
Benedict was the punishment of Commodore Barney and 
the destruction of his flotilla, and that their inarch toward 
Washington was simply the result of an after-thought. 

23. The approaches to Washington by a naval force on 
the Potomac — that by the Eastern Branch bridge and that 
by way of Bladensburg — were to be guarded, and it was not 
clearly seen how this could be done with the forces then at 
command. The enemy was well informed of the geography 
and topography of the country in which he was operating, 
and it was a great problem as to how he would avail him- 
self of his knowledge. Admiral Cockburn, of the British 
navy, said that, when he found Commodore Barney with 
the Baltimore flotilla had taken shelter at the head of the 
Patuxent, he was afforded a pretext for ascending that river 
to attack him ; but the ultimate destination of the com- 
bined forces was Washington, should it be found that the 
attempt might be made with any prospect of success. 

24. The admiral thought that the best approaches to 
Washington were by Port Tobacco and Benedict, from 
both of which there were good and direct roads, and their 
distances about the same. The roads from Benedict, said 
he, divide about five miles inland ; the one by Piscataway 
and Bladensburg, the other following the course of the 
river, although at some distance from it, owing to the creeks 
that run up the country. 

25. The last-mentioned road passed through the town of 
Nottingham to Bladensburg, at which town the river called 
the Eastern Branch, that bounds Washington to the east- 



238 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

ward, was fordable, and the distance about five miles. Sir 
Peter Parker was sent up the Chesapeake above Baltimore 
to divert the attention of the Americans in that quarter, 
while the admiral proceeded up the river to land the Brit- 
ish forces at Benedict. 

26. On the 23d of August it was discovered that the 
British army were in full march from Benedict to Wash- 
ington, and that the Americans were on the march to meet 
them, but in too small a body to attempt an engagement. 
General Winder proposed to retire until he could collect all 
his forces in a body, and preparations were made to destroy 
all the bridges near Washington. 

27. On the 21st Commodore Barney had abandoned and 
destroyed his flotilla, consisting of seventeen vessels, by 
order of the secretary of the navy, and proceeded with the 
main body of his men to join General Winder at Bladens- 
burg. 

28. On the morning of the 24th of August, the Ameri- 
cans found that they were in front of a large body of Brit- 
ish under the command of General Ross. General Winder 
was in command of about three thousand men, and fell 
back to the bridge at Bladensburg, where he was reenforced 
by two thousand men under General Stansbury, among 
which was the Fifth regiment, belonging to Baltimore, and 
commanded by Colonel Sterett. He was also reenforced by 
several rifle and artillery companies, and by the sailors 
under the command of Commodore Barney. 

29. In or near the old apple-orchard at Bladensburg a 
battery was constructed, and heavy artillery mounted so as 
to command the bridge over the stream. In this battery 
was stationed two companies of artillery from Baltimore, 
under the command of Captains Myers and Magruder, con- 
sisting of about one hundred and fifty men with six six- 
pounders. The riflemen, commanded by Major Pinkney, 
were placed on the right of the battery, and two companies, 



THE DEFENSE OF THE CAPITAL. 239 

armed principally with muskets, in the rear of its left. Two 
regiments marched up the rising ground in the rear of the 
orchard and formed in order of battle in the rear of the 
artillery and riflemen just as the enemy came in sight. The 
Fifth regiment from Baltimore inarched up also, and formed 
on the left of the other two regiments, the whole being so 
placed that the enemy saw their situation and estimated 
their strength. General Stansbury made this disposition of 
the army, and when General Winder arrived on the field he 
approved of it, because it was then impossible to make any 
essential change. 

30. The column of the enemy appearing in view at 
about a mile distant, it was perceived that, if the position 
of the advanced artillery was forced, two or three pieces 
on the left of Stansbury would be necessary to scour the 
orchard which lay between his line and his artillery, and 
another rifle company to increase the support of the artil- 
lery. These were supplied immediately by General Smith, 
and barely accomplished before it was necessary to order 
the advanced artillery to open on the enemy, then rapidly 
descending the street of Bladensburg toward the bridge. 
He made an effort to throw across the bridge a strong body 
of infantry, but was driven back at the commencement by 
the artillery in the battery, and almost disappeared behind 
the houses. After a long pause, the enemy made a second 
attempt to cross the bridge with increased numbers and 
greater celerity of movement. They were again opposed 
by the artillery and riflemen, but not with success, for 
many effected a crossing. The company on the left of 
Pinkney's riflemen, in an unhappy moment, discharged 
their pieces and fled, although Captain Doughty, who com- 
manded them, did all in his power to restrain them from 
this very improper course. 

31. The enemy pressed across the stream in great num- 
bers. It was everywhere fordable, and lined with bushes 



24:0 TEE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

and trees large enough to conceal the movements of light 
troops. The advanced riflemen soon began to fire vigor- 
ously upon the enemy ; but, after a half-dozen rounds per- 
haps, they were observed to run back to the skirts of the 
orchard. There they halted for a time, but soon broke and 
fled to the left of Stansbury's line. The Fifth Baltimore 
regiment was now ordered to advance to the support of 
the artillery, and they promptly commenced the move- 
ment ; but rockets thrown rapidly by the enemy passed 
close above the heads of Shutz's and Ragan's regiments, 
composing a part of Stansbury's line, and a universal 
flight of these two regiments took place. 

32. After the flight many of the Americans came up 
nobly to the contest, and the battle went on again with 
spirit. Commodore Barney's marines did great service un- 
til their commander was left on the field covered with 
wounds. The panic, however, soon became general, a re- 
treat was ordered, and the capital of the nation fell into 
the hands of the British. 

33. The Capitol, president's house, the treasury, the war 
and navy offices, the libraries and national records, were all 
given to the flames. 

34. Before the torch was applied to the war office six horses 
and carts, under the control of frightened drivers, on their way 
out of the city in " a sweeping gallop," were halted before 
that office and commanded to come in and load up with files 
and documents. They obeyed orders ; and under escort of 
six ai*med regulars, detailed for the purpose, they were con- 
ducted in haste to Old Rock Creek church, in the District of 
Columbia. Here they unloaded their precious burdens, and 
stored them away in the church for safe keeping. For more 
than three weeks six soldiers, fed by the hospitable and pa- 
triotic citizens, paced up and down in front of the old edi- 
fice. They kept guard over a few bundles of the national rec- 
ords, about all that was saved from the torch of the redcoat. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

1814-1817. 

General Ross. — Invasion of Baltimore. — Battle of North Point.— Bombardment 
of Fort McIIenry. — F. S. Key.— Star-spangled Banner. 

1. After the capture and sack of Washington, the Brit- 
ish army, under General Ross, returned to their shipping, 
and reembarked aboard Admiral Cockburn's fleet and sailed 
for Baltimore 

2. Some of the troops of General Winder's command 
had been collected, and a great number of volunteers flocked 
in from different parts of the state, from Virginia and Penn- 
sylvania, to fight under the command of General Samuel 
Smith in defense of the city. 

3. On the 10th of September, 1814, information was re- 
ceived that the enemy was ascending the Chesapeake, and 
was seen at the mouth of the Patapsco with forty or fifty 
ships. 

4. Some of his vessels entered the river, while others 
proceeded to North Point, distant twelve miles from the 
city, and commenced the debarkation of their troops in the 
night. In the mean time their frigates, bomb-ketches, and 
small vessels approached and ranged themselves in line to 
cannonade Port McHenry and the city. Their frigates 
were lightened before they entered the river, and their ships 
of the line lay off North Point to ovei*awe the Americans. 

5. They landed a force of about nine thousand men, five 
thousand of which were under the command of General 
Ross, and the remainder under that of Admiral Cockburn. 

11 



242 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

6. Some works were erected near North Point to arrest 
their progress, too weak, however, for a stand to be made 
at them, and the enemy marched four miles toward the city, 
uninterrupted except by a few shots fromihe cavalry. Here 
they were met by General Strieker, with his Baltimore 
brigade and other troops, amounting in all to about three 
thousand and two hundred men. The rest of the American 
forces were judiciously stationed in or near the various 
defenses. About one o'clock on the 12th, a party of nearly 
two hundred men were detached from the line to feel the 
enemy and bring on a battle. Before they looked for it, 
they were attacked by the British in very superior numbers, 
and driven in with some loss. As the enemy advanced the 
artillery opened a destructive fire upon them, which was 
returned from two nine-pounders, and the action became 
general. The men took deliberate aim, and the carnage 
was great. When the Fifth and Twenty-seventh regiments 
were outflanked by the greater force of the enemy, they 
retired in good order under a galling fire. 

7. The cavalry, though they performed very severe and 
important duties, had but little to do in the battle. The 
whole number of Americans actually engaged did not ex- 
ceed seventeen hundred. 

8. Nearly as much, perhaps, being done at this point as 
was expected, our forces retreated toward the city. The 
enemy followed slowly, and at night approached within 
about two miles of the defenses. Measures were taken to 
cut them off and punish their temerity, but before General 
Winder, with the Virginia militia and a company of United 
States cavalry, could bring his plans fully to bear, the Brit- 
ish, suspecting the design or not liking the appearance of 
the American works, decamped suddenly in the night, and 
embarked with such precipitation that, though closely pur- 
sued, a few prisoners only were taken. The pursuing force, 
however, merited and received the thanks of their general, 



INVASION OF BALTIMORE. 243 

and the whole body collected was entitled to the gratitude 
of Baltimore and their country. 

9. In the early part of the action General Ross, com- 
mander of the British forces, was killed, and his death was 
probably the immediate cause why an attack upon the 
American works was not made. The American loss in this 
battle, generally called the battle of North Point, was 
about twenty killed, ninety wounded, and forty-seven pris- 
oners and missing. The British loss w T as about six hundred 
men. 

10. On the 13th, the enemy's vessels formed a great 
half-circle in front of Fort McHenry, but out of reach of 
all the guns on shore, and also of those of the battery at 
the lazaretto, on the opposite side of the great cove or basin 
around the head of which the city of Baltimore is built. 

11. Fort McHenry was about tw r o miles from the city, and 
at the time had some finely planned batteries mounted with 
heavy cannon, as the British very well knew. At six o'clock, 
on the morning of the 13th, six bomb and some rocket ves- 
sels commenced the attack, keeping such a respectful dis- 
tance as to make the fort rather a target than an opponent. 
Major Armistead, the gallant commander of the fort, and 
his brave garrison, fired occasionally to let the enemy know 
the place was not given up, and so things continued all 
day. 

12. Four or five bombs frequently in the air at a time, 
making a double explosion, with the noise of the rockets 
and the firings of the fort, lazaretto, and the barges, created 
a horrible clatter. Thus it lasted until about three o'clock 
in the afternoon, when the enemy, growing more coura- 
geous, dropped nearer the fort and gave the garrison and 
batteries a little of the chance they wanted. 

13. The balls flew like hail-stones ; the British slipped 
their cables, hoisted their sails, and were off in a moment, 
but not without damage. When they got out of harm's 



244 



THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



way they renewed the attack, throwing their bombs with 
an activity which was stimulated by the mortification of 
their repulse. 

14. At one, a. m., aided by the darkness of the night and 
screened by a flame they had kindled, one or two rocket or 
bomb vessels and many barges, manned with twelve hundred 
chosen men, passed Fort McHenry and proceeded up the 





BOMBARDMENT OF FORT MC HENRY. 



Patapsco, to assail the town and fort in the rear, and per- 
haps come to a landing. They thought the great deed was 
done ; they gave three cheers and began to throw their 
missive weapons. Their cheering was, however, turned to 
grief, and the cries of their wounded and drowning people 
reached the shore. Forts McHenry and Covington, with 
the city battery, the lazaretto, and barges, concentrated 
upon them a galling fire which it was impossible to endure. 
15. The houses in the city were shaken to their founda- 
tions ; for never, perhaps, from the time of the invention 
of cannon to that day, were the same number of pieces fired 



FRANCIS SCOTT KEY. 245 

in a succession so rapid, particularly from Fort Covington, 
where a party of Rogers's invincible crew were posted. 

16. Barney's flotilla-men at the city battery maintained 
the high reputation they had earned at Bladensburg. Other 
vessels also began to fire ; the heavens were lighted with 
flame, and all was continued explosion for about an hour, 
when the enemy retired to a respectful distance, battered, 
crippled, and demoralized. All was for some time still, and 
the silence was awful ; but, being beyond danger, some of 
the enemy's vessels resumed the bombardment, which con- 
tinued until the morning of the 14th. 

17. Francis Scott Key, a son of Lieutenant John Ross 
Key, of Frederick County, who had gone Avith a flag of truce 
to the British squadron to ask for the release of a prisoner, 
was detained on board of his own A r essel, anchored in sight 
of Fort McHenry, where he was an anxious witness of the 
bombardment, and, while watching the " rockets' red glare, 
and the bombs bursting in air," he made notes on the back 
of a letter, from which he wrote the " Star-spangled Ban- 
ner." In the first few lines of the song he inquired of the 
beholder if he saw by the dawn's early light that which he 
so proudly hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. He 
watched the flag through the perilous fight, and saw its 
broad stripes and bright stars streaming gallantly. The 
glaring rocket and bursting bomb gave proof throughout 
the night that the flag was still there. Morning dawned 
upon the scene, and the fort had not been surrendered. 

18. Of the men that garrisoned the fort, only four were 
killed and twenty wounded, and two or three hundred dol- 
lars would have repaired the damages done to the fort itself. 
The British loss was great both on land and water. 

19. Thus baffled, Admiral Cockburn abandoned his ex- 
pedition against Baltimore, but continued to destroy the 
property of defenseless citizens as he proceeded down the 
bay* on his retreat. 



246 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

20. Dating Baltimore, October 13, 1814, John Randolph 
of Roanoke writes : " The random shot that killed Ross 
saved Baltimore." Under the same date he wrote : " The 
walls of the Capitol and palace are rapidly decomposing. 
The massy columns in the hall of the representatives are 
not larger than the ordinary poles of which we build tobac- 
co houses. The navy-yard is utterly torn up and destroyed. 
The public offices and archives are gone for ever." 

21. With the exception of a few depredations commit- 
ted along the Chesapeake by the fleet of Admiral Cockburn, 
the bombardment of Fort Mcllenry was the last of the war 
in Maryland. A treaty of peace was signed on December 
24, 1814, and ratified by the United States on February 17, 
1815. This put an end to the war in all parts of the United 
States ; armies were disbanded, and the people returned to 
the pursuits of peace. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

1817-1828. 

Troubles in Western Maryland. — Washington's Monument. — The Battle Mon- 
ument. —Great Turnpike Roach. — Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.— Flood 
in 1817. — William Pinkney. 

1. In 1813, in the face of war along the eastern borders 
of Maryland, the managers of the " Washington Monument 
Lottery " offered a premium of live hundred dollars for the 
best design, model, or plan for a monument to the memory 
of George Washington, accompanied by an estimate of the 
cost of its execution, not exceeding one hundred thousand 
dollars. The monument, whether sculptural, architectural, 
or both, Avas intended to be placed in the center of a square 
three hundred feet long and one hundred and forty feet 
wide, crossed in its length by a principal street. The whole 
space appropriated for it was about sixty-five feet square. 

2. The sculptors, architects, and other artists of Europe 
were invited to enter into competition for the premium of- 
fered ; but it was hoped that the American artists would 
evince in their designs that there would be no occasion to 
resort to any other country for a monument to the memory 
of their illustrious fellow-citizen. 

3. The monument was designed by Robert Mills, an 
American architect, in whose skill and integrity the most 
unbounded confidence was expressed ; and the work was 
finished under his superintendence according to his design 
or model. 

4. In 1815 it was enacted by the general assembly of 



24S THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

the [state that the site selected for the monument to the 
memory of Washington, on North Charles Street, in the 
precincts of Baltimore, upon winch the monument had been 
commenced, should be adopted and confirmed in lieu of the 
place designated in the original act ; and the care and cus- 
tody of the said monument, when finished, should belong to 
Baltimore. This site was granted by Colonel John Eager 
Howard, and on the 4th of July, 1815, the corner-stone of 
the great structure was laid with appropriate ceremonies. 

5. In the same year it was enacted that the square of 
ground in the city of Baltimore, heretofore appropriated 
for the erection of a monument or statue to Washington, 
and not adopted by the managers for the building of the 
same, be appropriated for the erection of .a monument known 
by the name of the Battle Monument, to the memory of 
those who fell in defense of Baltimore on the 12th and 13th 
of September, 1814. 

G. In 1815 Charles Ridgely, of Hampton, was elected 
governor of Maryland. 

7. In 1816, in addition to the greater part of the District 
of Columbia already ceded, the state of Maryland ceded to 
the general government the exclusive right of jurisdiction 
in and over the ground and territory on which Fort Wash- 
ington and Fort McHenry were erected. 

8. From this year, through a score of years, it will be 
seen that the principal history of Maryland is the history 
of her public Avorks. 

9. The Potomac company had so far succeeded in re- 
moving obstructions to the navigation of that river, that a 
traveler said of the town of Cumberland that the most 
beautiful " stone coal " he ever saw was selling there for 
eight to twelve cents a bushel. 

10. In the time of high water, said he, they ship the 
coal and other produce to Georgetown and that neighbor- 
ing country, bringing back in their boats in return one ton 



A NEW TURNPIKE ROAD CONSTRUCTED. 249 

to a man of plaster, herring, shad, and other goods as they 
may want. 

11. By the act of Congress passed on the 29th of March, 
180G, amended and enlarged by subsequent acts, a road was 
directed to be laid out and constructed from Cumberland, 
in the state of Maryland, to the state of Ohio, upon obtain- 
ing the consent of the states through which it should pass. 
The fund provided for this undertaking was to consist of 
the proceeds of the sales of certain lands, the property of 
the United States, in the state of Ohio. This act furnished 
the admission that roads might be laid out by Congress 
through the several-states with their consent, and that the 
expenses of constructing them might constitutionally be 
defrayed out of the funds of the United States. Other acts 
amendatory of the act of 1806 were passed in 1810, 1811, 
and 1815, and the great national road from Cumberland to 
the Ohio River was put under contract. 

12. In 1810 it was in course of construction. The same 
traveler said that the great turnpike road over the Allegha- 
nies was, for masterly workmanship, far superior to any of 
the turnpike roads built and being built in Baltimore 
County. The bridges and culverts, said he, actually do 
great credit to the builders of the same. This great road 
is the salvation of Maryland and the great western country. 
It will be of more benefit to the human family than Con- 
gress ever imagined. 

13. ''I have seen no place," continued the traveler, 
" where they have carried this road through the Allegha- 
nies, but has been done with as little difficulty as making 
the road up Jones's Falls, in Baltimore County. One place 
in particular on the mountains, the road is carried in a 
direct line for three miles. This great road is free from 
toll, and is not only good and handsome, but elegant, and 
will be of more benefit than can possibly be imagined. At 
Smithfield thev have commenced the erection of a bridsre 



250 



THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



over the river. From the specimens of the work already 
on the road, this bridge will be a magnificent structure. 
This great western turnpike road is laid out and carried a 
great part of the way on the same ground, and throughout, 
in the general direction of Braddock's road." 

14. In 1817 the Chesapeake and Delaware canal com- 
pany, which had commenced its work and prosecuted it 
vigorously for a time, was compelled to put a stop to it 
for want of funds. The company memorialized Congress 




FIRST BOAT ON THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL (1817). 



in its behalf, and gave the most ample information of the 
importance of the canal, its practicability, and the measures 
taken to carry it into effect. 

15. After the importance of opening the communication 
between the two bays had excited the attention of the most 
intelligent men for more than half a century, it was com- 
menced with enthusiasm, and successfully prosecuted for 
more than two years. During this time all the preliminary 
operations were completed, and considerable progress was 
made in cutting the canal itself ; but at the expiration of 



GREAT CALAMITIES CAUSED BY FLOODS 251 

this time it became absolutely necessary to suspend it from 
no other cause than the failure of funds, arising from the 
neglect of the stockholders to pay up their subscriptions. 
At length, however, the means required to complete the 
work were realized from various sources, and through it 
wealth from the North poured into Baltimore, which had 
already acquired a commercial importance second only 
among the great cities of the Union. 

16. By the great floods in the year 1817, turnpike roads, 
canals, and other public improvements, as well as private 
property in Maryland, suffered to the amount of millions 
of dollars. On the 9th of August, in that year, great rains 
prevailed over the state. On Friday night, the 8th of the 
month, they commenced to fall with exceeding violence. 
It was almost an unceasing torrent, or deluge of water, 
until about one o'clock in the afternoon of the 9th. 

17. Calamitous accounts from all parts of the state rap- 
idly came in ; of houses, mills, mill-dams, and public im- 
provements swept away. Eight persons lost their lives, 
and sixteen houses were destroyed by the rising of the 
waters at York, in the state of Pennsylvania. On the 
Great and Little Gunpowder Falls, Jones's Falls, Gwynn's 
Falls, and Patapsco Falls, scarcely a single bridge remained, 
and those on most of the streams between Baltimore and 
York were swept away. At Washington city the floods 
came in great force. Turnpike and other roads were washed 
so as in many places to be almost impassable. 

18. Jones's Falls, which runs through the city of Balti- 
more, was swelled to an alarming height. The stream is 
about fourteen miles in length, with a very rapid descent. 
It passes through a hill country, and affords, perhaps, 
more mill-seats than any stream of its length in the United 
States, nearly all of which were, at the time of the flood, 
very highly improved. In general, it might have been 
forded anywhere without reaching above a horse's knee, 



252 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

and within those parts of the city which had been built up 
it was confined by stone w T alls erected on piles, by houses 
on its banks, or wharves, to a space of sixty feet wide 
above Market Street bridge, but of some greater width 
below to the basin. 

19. At one o'clock, on the 9th of August, the wooden 
bridge at Center Street was lifted from its abutments and 
happily deposited in a garden below. Many of the mill- 
dams above had, by that time, been swept away, and their 
accumulated waters were added to the torrent. The next 
bridge at Bath Street, also of wood, shared the fate 
of the former, but passed in an unbroken body down 
the stream and lodged against the stone bridge at Gay 
Street. 

20. Here it instantly collected an immense mass of float- 
ing timber and parts of houses, forming an obstruction to 
the water, which then spread itself over the low grounds 
west of the falls, and impetuously passed down Fish Street 
to Harrison and Frederick Streets. That part of the city 
called " the meadow " was overflowed to a depth of ten or 
fifteen feet. 

21. The greatest force of the torrent fell against the 
brick houses near the intersection of the south side of Gay 
with Frederick and Harrison Streets, and especially in the 
latter, where some frame buildings were swept off in a mo- 
ment ; their foundations, even, being nearly rooted up. Har- 
rison is a wide street, extending from what was then called 
Market Space, or the place where the principal market 
house of the city was located, and afforded vent for an im- 
mense quantity of water. It was in many places more 
than six feet deep, and of such power at the head of the 
market-house as to render it unsafe for man or horse to 
cross it. Except for about half an hour, when the flood 
was at its greatest height, it was forded by carts loaded 
with people, but a coach, in attempting to cross, was swept 



A SCENE OF DEVASTATION. 253 

off and lodged against the posts of the market-house, the 
horses narrowly escaping destruction. 

22. Market Street bridge, built of stone, and not ob- 
structed as that at Gay Street, but protected by the diver- 
sion of water, caused by the obstructions at the latter, stood 
the current, which passed under it with the rapidity of an 
arrow. 

23. The two foot-bridges between Market and George 
Street bridges, had given way, and that of George Street 
soon followed, and lodged crosswise against the stone bridge 
at Pratt Street, soon forming another complete obstruction. 
The water then took an additional rise of about three feet 
in less than three-quarters of a minute, and a large quantity 
of property, yet but partially injured, was sitddenly sacri- 
ficed. 

24. Pratt Street bridge was the lowest one on the falls, 
and the water, after passing it, spread over the low grounds 
in its course to the basin, doing but little damage. Of all 
the bridges on the falls, that at Market Street only was un- 
injured. 

25. It was impossible to give a proper view of the scene 
which this deluge presented. Houses, horses, cattle, with 
many swine, carts, drays, and other carriages, with, per- 
haps, thousands of cords of wood, and immense quantities 
of heavy timber, sometimes large trees, were seen mingled 
in awful confusion, dashing against each other as they were 
impelled by the foaming flood. 

26. Women and children in the upper stories of houses 
were loudly calling for assistance from others as helpless 
perhaps as themselves, as multitudes of articles of furni- 
ture, heavy hogsheads, barrels, and, in two or three instances, 
human beings were carried down the raging flood. 

27. The water was at its principal height at three o'clock, 
after which hour it rapidly fell, exposing to view a situation 
of things which defied description. It was impossible to 



254 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

give anything like a true account of individual losses. The 
city corporation sustained damages to the amount of ahout 
one hundred thousand dollars ; the works of the water com- 
pany were extensively injured, and the entire loss within the 
city was estimated at a million and a half of dollars. 

28. In 1818 Charles Goldsborough was elected governor 
of Maryland, and in 1819 Samuel Sprigg succeeded him. 
In 1822 Samuel Stevens was elected, and he was succeeded 
by Joseph Kent in 1825. 

29. On the 25th of February, 1822, William Pinkney 
died, aged fifty-eight years. He was one of the most dis- 
tinguished lawyers and statesmen of Maryland. He was 
born in Annapolis on the 17th of March, 1764. From 1807 
to 1811 he was minister resident in London, and in this 
latter year was appointed attorney-general of the United 
States by President Madison. His written opinions are 
said to be " finished models of judicial eloquence, uniting 
powerful and comprehensive argument with a copious, pure, 
and energetic diction." 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

1826-1828. 

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. — The Fairfax Stone. — Travels in the Mountains. 
— Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 

1. In 1824 a company was formed in Maryland called 
" The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company," for the pur- 
pose of constructing a canal from the Ohio River to the 
District of Columbia. 

2. In order to ascertain the practicability of construct- 
ing this canal, a party of gentlemen, including the secretary 
of war, visited the mountains on the route. They examined 
the sources from which the canal could be fed with water, 
and found that Deep Creek, a branch of the Youghiogheny, 
in the dry season furnished sufficient water at what was 
called the summit level, to fill a lock sixty feet long, ten 
feet deep, and twelve feet wide, in thirteen minutes. 

•*!. The Little Youghiogheny River could also be brought 
to the summit level at a point near Armstrong's in the Green 
Glades, and the Great Youghiogheny could be brought to 
the same place at a point where the state road crosses that 
stream. The question of water sufficient for canal navi- 
gation east and west was therefore considered as finally 
settled. 

4. From a point on the Deep Creek glade, called Hinch's 
Arm, forty-six feet of elevation above the bridge on the 
creek, the tunnel would be about two miles to Crabtree 
run, a branch of the Savage River. 

5. From the mouth of the North Glade run, a branch of 



250 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Deep Creek, to the head of White Oak Lick fork, was 
found to be one hundred and twelve feet ; thence to the 
summit of the dividing ridge, twenty-eight feet. On this 
route to the middle fork of Crabtree run, the tunnel would 
be one mile and two thirds. 

G. From Deep Creek bridge to the mouth of North 
Glade run, was about eleven feet elevation ; and from the 
bridge to the mouth of Meadow Mountain run, a branch of 
Deep Creek, the elevation was ten feet. 

7. From a point of elevation forty-six feet above the 
bridge, on the Meadow Mountain run, the tunnel would be 
about four miles to Monroe's run, also a branch of Savage 
River, about four or five miles above Crabtree run, and 
about nine miles from its mouth. 

8. In the early part of the nineteenth century a trav- 
eler made an extensive journey over the Alleghanies, and 
described some of the parts of country through which, as 
then contemplated, the Chesapeake and Ohio canal would 
probably pass. 

9. " I was informed," said he, " that Lord Fairfax's 
stone marks the boundary line between Maryland and Vir- 
ginia, and that it stands between what is called the " Back- 
bone " and the Alleghany mountain. 

10. In order to make his way to Fairfax's stone, he 
writes, " I rode nine miles through Horse-shoe Bottom, 
and crossed Cheat River five times. It is about one hun- 
dred and fifty yards wide, and six feet deep. I came to the 
mouth of the Black Fork of this river, which is about 
eighty yards wide, and a very rapid stream. The water is 
about the color of tar-water. I was under the impression 
that the water was not colored, that it received its appear- 
ance of color from the ground and the bed of rock over 
which it runs. I got a clear, white tumbler, and dipped up 
some water from the river, which, when in the glass, was as 
clear as crystal and a pure, well-tasting water." 



THE FAIRFAX STONE. 257 

11. From Cheat River the path to Fairfax's stone was 
known as Passon's Path, and the traveler was informed that 
there had not been a horse on that path for thirty years. 
" I believed it impossible," said he, " to take a horse to the 
stone, and I turned my course to ih% Great Glades, intend- 
ing to come to it from the Maryland side." On his way he 
said he came to one of the curiosities of the " great western 
world." This was a small creek about "four poles wide 
and knee-deep." In the middle of the stream, he said, 
" there was a continual bubbling of water, as if a noise of 
wind, or a blowpipe, was at work at the bottom of the 
stream. The wind came up with a smell similar to that of 
stone coal on fire. Our guide waded into the stream, held 
the lock of his rifle near the surface of the water at the 
bubbling point, turned his head and face to one side, and 
pulled the trigger. She flashed, and that instant a fire was 
blazing on the surface of the water as large as a yard square 
and two feet high. No smoke or sparks issued from the 
flame. I turned my horse into the stream and rode around 
the fire. I requested my guide to bring some leaves and 
dry sticks, to see if it was fire in earnest. As soon as he 
put them to the blaze they took fire, and burned his hand 
until he was obliged to let them go down stream. I am in- 
formed that in summer, at low water, this place blazes as 
high as a man's head for three weeks at a time." 

12. " I rode eighteen miles," said the traveler, " on the 
Big Youghiogheny River, situated on the west side of the 
Great Glades, about sixty miles west of the boundary line 
between Virginia and Maryland ; thence two miles to the 
house of William Wiles, the master woodsman of the great 
Alleghany forest, and the master herdsman of the Great 
Glades. I made my business known, and he said he could 
take me to Fairfax's stone, which was ten miles away, run- 
ning on the line between the two states. He said, however, 
that the stone could not be reached in less than fifteen 



258 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

miles ; and if I took a horse there and snow fell before I 
returned, I would never get him back again. He told me 
that, many years ago, a man went out into the vicinity of 
Fairfax's stone, and, missing his way, never could return to 
his camp-ground. Leading his horss in the mountain, he 
went to work with his pocket compass, and found his way 
out, twenty miles from the place he thought to reach. 
Wiles was then employed to go out and bring his horse, 
which was tied to a hickory-tree by the neck. He had 
barked the tree up and down, but if he could have reached 
up two feet higher there was a bag of oats. This morning 
the mountains are all completely covered with snow, which 
puts an end to my expedition to Fairfax's stone. At three 
o'clock the storm abated, and I rode thirteen miles, crossing 
the Great Glades." 

13. The Chesapeake and Ohio canal company was an 
outgrowth from the old Potomac company, which had 
failed to bring into Maryland the trade of the great west- 
ern country. The new canal was to be cut through the 
land from the District of Columbia, by Avay of Cumberland, 
to the coal regions on the eastern side of the Alleghanies, 
and thence to the head of navigation on the Monongahela 
or Ohio River. It was contemplated that the states of 
Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, aided by the gov- 
ernment of the United States, as well as by private indi- 
viduals, would finish the work. 

14. In 1828 about four millions of dollars were raised 
by subscriptions to the company's stock, the route was se- 
lected, and the work put under contract. The route selected 
was on the eastern bank of the Potomac River, wholly 
within the state of Maryland. The company encountered 
great difficulty and expense where Monocacy discharges 
its waters into the Potomac. It was necessary to construct 
an aqueduct over the " mouth of Monocacy," through which 
the waters of the canal might pass, carrying upon their sur- 



THE FIRST RAILROAD IN MARYLAND. 259 

face heavily laden boats ; and material for this great struc- 
ture could only be obtained from a quarry at the southern 
base of the Sugar-Loaf Mountain. This quarry was about 
four miles distant from the mouth of the Monocacy, and for 
the purpose of conveying hewn stone over this distance a 
railroad was constructed, on which open cars were moved 
by horse-power. This was the first railroad laid down in 
Maryland, perhaps the first in the United States. Iron rails 
were not used. They were made of wood, consisting of 
nothing more than logs, cut from twelve to sixteen feet 
long, allowing the diameter at the smaller end to be not less 
than about ten inches. They were called " string-pieces, " 
and along their whole length a triangular trough or groove 
was cut from the bark or outside of the log to its center or 
heart, so as to take out about a fourth part of its wood. 
-The groove then formed a right angle, at the heart of the 
log, and two flat surfaces diverging from it. When the 
string-piece thus made was laid down on the trackway, one 
of the flat surfaces was parallel to the surface of the ground 
and the other perpendicular to it. 

15. These pieces were laid down about as far apart as 
the rails of other railroads, and, as the car moved along, 
the perimeters of its wheels pressed upon the flat surfaces of 
the grooves as well as against their perpendiculars on each 
side of the track, holding the car firmly in its place, so as 
to prevent it from running off to the ground. 

16. The road was built up hills and down them, through 
a rough and mountainous country, very little grading being 
done, and the cars consisted of a plain wooden platform 
supported by iron wheels and axles. One wheel or more on 
each car had cogs on the inside of the perimeter, between 
which an iron lever could play so as to lock the wheel in 
going down a hill. This railroad was kept in operation 
until the great aqueduct was finished, .and afterward 
abandoned to decay. 



260 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

17. The people of Maryland, believing that a canal from 
the Ohio River to the District of Columbia only would 
build up the cities on the Potomac to the detriment of Bal- 
timore, obtained the right to construct a canal from some 
point near the Potomac River through the District of Co- 
lumbia to the city of Baltimore. This canal was not be- 
gun, for the feasibility of its construction was gravely 
doubted, and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal was not con- 
structed beyond Cumberland. 



. CHAPTER XXVIII. 

1829-1840. 

Railroad to the Waters of the Ohio. — Adams and Jefferson. — Charles Carroll. 
— Two Hundredth Anniversary. — Logan and other Indian Chiefs. — Fort 
Cumberland. — The Meteoric Shower, etc. 

1. In 1827 a company of gentlemen applied to the legis- 
lature to obtain a charter for a railroad from the city of Bal- 
timore to the " waters of the Ohio," and it was granted in 
less than ten days after the application was formally pre- 
sented. A lawsuit with the Chesapeake and Ohio canal 
company with respect to a right of way for the railroad 
soon followed, but a compromise was effected, by which the 
railroad was allowed to be built on and near the eastern 
bank- of the canal from the Point of Rocks to Harper's 
Ferry where it entered Virginia. 

2. On the 4th of July, 1828, the corner-stone of the 
Baltimore and Ohio railroad was laid, and the event was 
signalized by the most imposing procession ever seen by the 
people in Maryland. On the 4th of July, 1826, John Adams 
and Thomas Jefferson died, and of all the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, but one then remained. This 
one was Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who seemed to stand 
between two generations as the only visible link connecting 
the living with the fifty-six "immortal signers." He was 
then the only representative on earth of the Congress of 
1776, and, more than ninety years of age, he still stood 
erect, transmitting unimpaired to posterity the blessings 
which had been transmitted to him. He formally com- 



202 



THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



menced the work on this great railroad by the ceremony of 
laying the corner-stone with his own hands, in the presence 
of a vast multitude. 

3. " I Consider this among the most important acts of 
my life," said he, addressing his friends, " second only to 
my signing the Declaration of Independence, if even it be 
second to that." 

4. In 1828 Daniel Martin was elected governor of Mary- 




land, and under 
his administration 
the railroad was 
put in operation 
as far as Ellicott's 
Mills, a distance 
of fifteen miles 
from Light Street wharf, Baltimore. Small passenger 
cars, resembling, in many particulars, the old-style stage- 
coaches, were put on the track and drawn by horses. The 
freight cars resembled large square boxes on wheels, and 
they were covered with white cotton material, similar to 
that used for " wagon sheets " on the turnpike roads. Peo- 
ple came from widely distant parts of the United States 
to see a railroad in operation, and to enjoy a ride on the 
cars for the gratification of their curiosity. 



"GRASSHOPPERS." . 263 

5. When the road was finished as far as Harper's Ferry, 
where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet in the Blue 
Ridge Mountains, steam engines called "grasshoppers" 
were put on the road, in place of mules and horses, and Ions: 
and heavy trains of cars, coupled together by chains, were 
drawn along by the " grasshoppers " at the rate of fifteen 
or twenty miles an hour. These steam engines were so 
called because they had perpendicular connecting-rods, 
which worked up and down in front of the engines, mak- 
ing them appear, when viewed from a distance, like huge 
grasshoppers, hopping along in terrible fright to escape 
the roaring wheels behind them. 

6. In 1829 Thomas King Carroll was elected governor of 
Maryland. In 1830 Daniel Martin was elected for a second 
term. In 1831 he was succeeded by George Howard ; in 
1832 James Thomas was elected, and succeeded by Thomas 
W. Yeazey in 1835. 

7. Under the administration of Governor Thomas, in 
1834, the Washington branch of the Baltimore and Ohio 
railroad was finished, and Philip E. Thomas, president 
of the road, the directors, and a large company of invited 
guests from Baltimore, proceeded to Washington, where 
they met the mayor and city council of that city, and a 
large body of distinguished citizens, as well as Andrew 
Jackson, president of the United States, and other promi- 
nent officers of the general government. 

8. " Even to the casual observer," said President Thom- 
as, " of the map of the vast empire into which the original 
thirteen states have expanded under the beneficent influence 
of our free institutions, the national advantages of Mary- 
land, upon whose soil we now stand, must be apparent ; 
and, having been once included in the limits of the state, 
the city of Washington must feel an interest in whatever 
affects its happiness and prosperity. 

9. " You have alluded," said he, " to the change which 



264 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

is now wrought in travel between our respective cities, 
since the time when the sun both rose and set on the way- 
farer as he toiled on his journey between them. I trust the 
traveler to the West, who on his departure sees that lumi- 
nary emerge from the bosom of the Atlantic, may be per- 
mitted to follow its course, so that on the same day he will 
witness its descent beneath the broad horizon that circum- 
scribes the waters of the Mississippi." 

10. It is claimed that most of the engineering and me- 
chanical contrivances that now form indispensable elements 
in the practical operation of railroads, all over the world, 
were wholly originated in Baltimore, in connection with 
the early experiments on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. 

11. In 1834 two hundred years had gone by since the 
landing of the colonists of Maryland at St. Mary's ; and, 
looking over these long centuries, it may be plainly seen 
that these people are clearly entitled to the merit of priority 
in the establishment of religious freedom for all the Chris- 
tian denominations in America. Lord Baltimore, by his 
original plan of polity, established Christianity in Maryland 
agreeably to the old common law, with the express denial 
of preeminence to any sect. His associates organized the 
principle, and acted upon it from the outset. The assem- 
blies of the province from 1635 to 1639 admitted it as 
fundamental, and that of 1649 promulgated a statute con- 
cerning religious equality and freedom, which is not only 
prior in date, as a charter for Christian sects, to any other 
legislative act of the kind of which this country can boast, 
but it provides more minutely and anxiously than any other 
extant for the protection of the rights of conscience and 
the preservation of religious harmony. No other law is 
known which bespeaks a spirit so tolerant as to the various 
divisions of Christianity, so prudent and sound a judgment, 
and so generous a solicitude for the welfare of all. 

12. It is a matter of surprise that the colonists of Mary- 



LOGAN, THE MINGO CHIEF. 205 

land encountered so little trouble with the Indians, espe- 
cially when it is known that the prevailing fear of the Six 
Nations was that the Europeans might become too power- 
ful. 

13. It is not, however, a matter of surprise that the Ind- 
ians, as a nation, would not embrace Christianity, for with 
the ship that brought the colonist and the Bible came also, 
as a general thing, the barrel and the bottle containing 
strong drink, or fire-water, as the Indians soon learned to 
call it. 

14. As far back as 1688 many of the good people of 
Maryland took into consideration the terrible effects of strong 
drink upon the Indians, and saw that preaching the gospel 
to them was likely to become an entire failure unless 
the liquor traffic among them was prohibited. The most 
stubborn battles ever fought between the whites and Ind- 
ians on this continent were to prevent the encroachment of 
the bottle upon the territory of the latter, for the bottle and 
the Bible, they said, always arrived on their hunting- 
grounds in the same wagon, and they could not see how the 
one could bear the company of the other. 

15. The liquor trade among the Indians of Maryland, 
during the government of the province by the Lords Bal- 
timore, was, in a great measure, prohibited by law and by 
the force of public opinion bearing upon the traders ; yet, 
even then the missionaries were, in many cases, baffled in 
their efforts to do the Indians good, on account of the per- 
sistence of the trader to do them evil. 

16. In 1772 Logan, the Mingo chief, was introduced to 
a missionary, and the conversation immediately turned upon 
vice and immorality arising among the Indians from the use 
of fire-water ; the chief " exclaimed against the white peo- 
ple for imposing liquors upon the red men." The influence 
of the missionary upon Logan came suddenly to an end, for 
he charged the whites with making him a drunkard. 

12 



•260 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

17. " The Great Spirit made the spring," said another 
chief, in 17*7, "and other seasons, "but he did not make 
stills to make whisky to be given to the Indians. He bids 
me tell the white people not to give Indians any kind of 
liquor. When he had made the earth and the animals, he 
went into the great lakes, where he breathed as easily as 
anywhere else, and then made all the different kinds of fish. 

18. "The different kinds," continued the chief, "he 
made to be separate, and not to mix with and disturb each 
other, but the white people have broken his command by 
mixing their color with the Indians. 

10. " The Great Spirit," said he, " wishes me to inform the 
people that they should quit drinking intoxicating liquor, 
as being the cause of diseases and death. He told us not to 
sell any more of our lands, for he never sold land to any 
one. lie has ordered me to quit drinking intoxicating 
drinks, and informed me that by doing so I shall live longer. 
He made known to me that it is very wicked to tell lies." 

20. On the 18th of February, 1834, William Wirt died. 
He was born at Bladensburg on the 8th of November, 1772. 
He held the office of attorney-general of the United States 
for twelve years, and his opinions delivered during that time 
are among the ablest on the records of the office. 

21. Roger Brooke Taney, whose ancestors were among 
the earliest emigrants to the province of Maryland, was 
born in Calvert County on the 17th of March, 1777. At 
the age of fifteen years he was sent to Dickinson College, 
Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In 1709 he was admitted to the 
bar, and commenced the practice of the law in his native 
county. In 1827, by the unanimous recommendation of 
the Baltimore bar, he was appointed attorney-general of 
Maryland by Governor Kent, and in 18.'>1 attorney-gen- 
eral of the United States by President Jackson. 

22. Chief Justice Marshall died in the summer of 1835, 
and on the 28th of December in the same year Mr. Taney 



DEATH OF ROGER BROOKE TANEY. 207 

was nominated to the senate, to fill his place in the supreme 
court of the United States. On the 15th of March, lxi(>, 
his nomination was confirmed and his judicial life com- 
menced. 

23. He first took his seat on the bench at a circuit 
court held in Baltimore in April, 183(5. In January, 1837, 
he took his seat for the first time on the bench of the su- 
preme court, and continued to hold the office of chief jus- 
tice with unsurpassed ability until the time of his death, 
which took place in Washington city on the 12th of Octo- 
ber, 1864. His desire was that he be buried in the soil of 
Maryland, and his remains were placed beside those of his 
mother, in Frederick County. 

21. In the year 1834 the state of Maryland could claim 
the precedence over her sister stales in the construction of 
great turnpike roads, canals, and railroads, to penetrate and 
conquer the Alleghanies, and in these she had undertaken 
and commenced the grandest public improvements in Amer- 
ica. In the second century of her existence, she developed 
and reduced to practice a class of great ideas of which Eu- 
ropean nations, a thousand years of age, had scarcely begun 
to dream. 

25. She had engaged in a war against time and distance, 
and her great railroad was to be built through a country 
full of attractions of every character, from the variegated 
landscape to the high and rugged mountain cliff. 

2(3. The road was carried through the great gorge at 
Harper's Ferry, made by the forces of nature for the pass- 
age of the waters of two rivers through the Blue Ridge 
Mountains. At this point the scenery is sublime. Moun- 
tains arise on each side of the Potomac, piercing the clouds 
with their sharp pinnacles, beneath which is a chasm cut 
through a mountain barrier, which in some remote age 
frowned in stern defiance on the waters at its base. 

27. From Harper's Ferry the route was easy to the spot 



268 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

from which the site of old Fort Fredei'ick can be seen, near 
the town of Hancock. This old fort is, among other recol- 
lections, memorable as the place in which some of the pris- 
oners, captured at the surrender of Cornwallis, in 1781, 
were confined, and because it was built under the direction 
of Washington upon a spot then on "the western frontier." 
It is also carried alona; near the " Great Horse-shoe Bend " 
of the Potomac River, in which old Fort Cumberland stood, 
and in one or more places it cuts Braddock's road, well 
known in the history of Maryland. 

28. At old Fort Cumberland, General Braddock record- 
ed his opinion of the provincial forces which accompanied 
his expedition to Fort Du Quesne. Dating June 5, 1755, 
he wrote : " I have at last assembled all the troops destined 
for the attack at Fort Du Quesne, which amount to two 
thousand effective men, of which there are eleven hundred 
furnished by the southern provinces, who have so little 
courage and disposition that scarcely any military service 
can be expected from them, though I have employed the 
best officers to form them." 

29. The Baltimore and Ohio railroad, therefore, in pass- 
ing along in view of the most magnificent scenery in the 
world, also passes over " rich historic ground " ; rich in rel- 
ics that bring back reminiscences of the great past of Mary- 
land ; and the traveler over this road from Baltimore to 
Wheeling is relieved from the absorbing cares of every-day 
life by the most pleasing contemplation of the present and 
the past. 

30. On the nights of the 12th and 13th of November, 
1833, a great meteoric shower took place, which was visible 
in all parts of Maryland. 

31. "I was suddenly awakened," said a traveler, "by a 
terrific stream of unearthly light flashing through the win- 
dow panes and blazing over the room from floor to ceiling. 
Suddenly drawing the curtain aside, I beheld a great ball 



A METEORIC SHOWER. 269 

of fire, as large as the sun or moon appear, rushing from the 
direction of the zenith, and describing a curve as it flew to- 
ward the horizon at the southwest. 

32. " After this smaller meteors continued to fly in all 
directions until they Avere overpowered by daylight on the 
morning of the 13th. They rushed down through the air 
as thick as large snowflakes, yet vastly more luminous, ap- 
pearing to the beholder as consuming their substance in 
their flight, or wearing it away by friction against the walls 
of air. Most of the meteors appeared as large and as brilliant 
as the stars themselves, and many persons thought that the 
celestial luminaries were rushing down to the earth, for the 
heavens blazed with an incessant discharge of globes of Are 
that appeared as descending in countless numbers. Some 
of the meteors appeared to strike the earth and explode, 
scattering their fragments in all directions ; yet, by the light 
of day, no traces of the great shower could be discovered. 
No violence was done to anything ; no twig, leaf, or flower 
was injured, and the shower left no record of itself except 
in memory." 

33. The above is a description of the shower as it ap- 
peared in Montgomery County. A writer in another part 
of the state said : " I witnessed one of the grandest and 
most alarming spectacles which ever beamed upon the eye 
of man. The light in my room was so great that I could 
see the hour of the morning by my watch, which hung over 
the mantel. I sprang to the window and beheld the stars, 
or some other bodies, presenting a fiery appearance, de- 
scending in torrents as rapid and numerous as ever I saw 
flakes of snow or drops of rain in the midst of a storm. Oc- 
casionally a large body of apparent fire would be hurled 
through the air, which, without noise, exploded, when mil- 
lions of fiery particles would be cast through the air." 

34. "At twenty minutes past five in the morning," said 
a writer in Baltimore, " a meteor about six inches in diam- 



270 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

eter exploded with considerable noise almost perpendicu- 
larly over the northwest part of the city. The blaze was 
splendid, so as to give the sky the appearance of sunrise. It 
shot in the direction of the northwest, leaving a stream of 
light, which assumed a serpentine form of apparently thirty 
feet in length, and lasted more than one minute." 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

1 840-1 8G0. 

Constitution of Maryland. — Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. — Harper's Ferry. 

1. It will be remembered that the first constitution of 
Maryland was formed in 1776, but since then several new 
ones have successively taken its place. The legislature 
under this constitution met every year on the first Monday 
in November, and the governor of the state was elected on 
the second Monday of the same month ; but the constitu- 
tion was altered at the session of 1823 and confirmed in 
1824. 

2. After the time of this alteration it is found that the 
legislative power of the state was vested in a senate, con- 
sisting of fifteen members, and a house of delegates, con- 
sisting of eighty members; and these two branches united 
were styled "the General Assembly of Maryland." 

3. The members of the house of delegates, four from 
each county, were elected annually by the people on the 
first Monday in October ; and the members of the senate 
were elected every fifth year, on the third Monday in Sep- 
tember, at Annapolis, by electors who were chosen by the 
people on the first Monday of the same month. These 
electors elected by ballot nine senators from the western 
and six from the eastern shore, who held their offices for 
five years. 

4. The executive power of the state was vested in a 
governor, who was elected annually on the first Monday in 



272 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

January by a joint ballot of both houses of the general 
assembly. No person could hold the office of governor 
more than three years successively, nor was he eligible as 
governor until the expiration of four years after he had 
been out of that office. The governor was assisted by a 
council of five members, who were chosen annually by a 
joint ballot of the two houses of assembly. 

5. The general assembly met on the last Monday in 
December. The council of the governor was elected on 
the first Tuesday in January. The constitution granted 
the right of suffrage to every free, white, male citizen above 
twenty-one years of age, who had resided twelve months 
in the state and six months in the county, or in the cities 
of Baltimore or Annapolis, next preceding the election at 
which he offered to vote. In 1836 the governor's council 
was abolished. 

6. The state was divided into six judicial districts, each 
comj>rising two, three, or four counties. For each district 
there was a chief judge and two associates, who constituted 
the county courts for the respective counties in the district. 
These w T ere the common-law courts of original jurisdiction 
in the state, and they had jurisdiction of all claims for fifty 
dollars and upward, appellate jurisdiction from the judg- 
ments of justices of the peace, and equity jurisdiction within 
the counties coextensive with the chancellor. The six chief 
judges constituted the court of appeals for the state, which 
had appellate jurisdiction of cases at law and in equity, 
originating in the county courts, the orphans' courts, and 
the court of chancery. 

7. In 1836 a new county was erected out of parts of 
Frederick and Baltimore Counties, and named Carroll 
County, in honor of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. 

8. It lies north of the western branch of the Patapsco 
Falls, and west of the northern branch, and extends north to 
the Pennsylvania line and northwest to the Monocacy River. 



CARROLL COUNTY. 



273 




274 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

0. Westminster, the eounty seat, is a flourishing place, 
and the seat of the Western Maryland College, an institu- 
tion for the education of the youth of both sexes. 

10. On the 3d of June, 1836, an internal improvement 
bill was passed by the legislature, which provided for the 
subscription, on the part of the state, of three million dol- 
lars toward the completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio 
canal, and the same amount toward the completion of the 
Baltimore and Ohio railroad. • 

11. In 1837 water had been let into the canal between 
Harper's Ferry and Georgetown, and the government of 
the United States subscribed to the slock of the company 
one million dollars. It was in rapid course of construc- 
tion toward the great west ; but, as a tunnel was required 
through the Alleghany Mountains of four miles and eighty 
yards in length, it ^as not therefore carried beyond Cum- 
berland. 

12. In the autumn of 1835 the Baltimore and Ohio rail- 
road was put in operation between Baltimore and Harper's 
Ferry, and had ten steam locomotives, fifty passenger cars, 
and twelve hundred freight carriages constantly employed. 

13. In this year the Winchester and Potomac railroad 
was in operation from Harper's Ferry to Winchester, in 
Virginia, a distance of thirty miles ; the Baltimore and 
Port Deposit railroad was finished as far as Havre de 
Grace, and the Wilmington and Susquehanna road con- 
tinued it from a point opposite Havi'e de Grace by the 
towns of Elkton and Wilmington to the line between Dela- 
ware and Pennsylvania. The junction of the two roads at 
Havre de Grace was to be effected by a steam ferry-boat 
of peculiar construction, to answer the purpose of a floating 
bridge at all seasons of the year. 

14. The Baltimore and Susquehanna railroad, to extend 
from Baltimore to York, in the state of Pennsylvania, was 
commenced in 1830 and completed in 1837. 



DEATH OF GENERAL SAMUEL SMITH. 275 

15. In this year a great financial crisis occurred in Mary- 
land, as well as in all the other states of the Union, in which 
even the treasury of the United States suffered, and fail- 
ures in business were of daily occurrence. Because the 
state of Maryland had subscribed liberally to her public 
improvements, her treasury was threatened with bankruptcy, 
but she managed to redeem her credit without the repudia- 
tion of one of her debts. To the great relief of the people, 
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company issued a paper 
currency, which circulated freely among them ; and al- 
though at times it became greatly depreciated in value, 
nevertheless it was highly appreciated as a safe currency. 
At the same time business men and others issued small bills 
of credit, suitable for change, which were received and paid 
out in all common business transactions, and the trouble 
soon passed over, leaving the country in a prosperous con- 
dition. 

16. In 1838 William Grason was elected governor of 
the state, and held the office for three years. 

17. On the 22d of April, 1839, General Samuel Smith 
died, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. He entered the 
army of the revolution as a captain in Colonel Smallwood's 
regiment, and his company covered the retreat of Washing- 
ton's army through New Jersey in 1777. He was elected 
to congress in 1793, and continued in the house of represen- 
tatives or senate, as a representative from Maryland, for 
more than forty years. 

18. In 1840 the largest assembly of people known in 
the history of Maryland came together on a vacant lot at 
Canton, in the city of Baltimore. 

19. It is known as the great Whig convention, and 
its object was to ratify the nominations of William Henry 
Harrison and John Tyler, for president and vice-president 
of the United States, made at Harrisburg, in Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 4th of December, 1839. At this convention 



276 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

speeches were delivered by Daniel Webster, of Massachu- 
setts ; Henry Clay, of Kentucky ; and John Van Lear McMa- 
hon, of Maryland ; the latter of whom made an effort which, 
for brilliancy and power, fell not below those of the great 
orators who preceded him. The presidential candidates 
were elected, and in April, 1841, President Harrison died. 
The people of Maryland did great honor to the deceased 
president by the most imposing procession in Baltimore, 
expressive of their feelings on account of the national be- 
reavement. The vast concourse terminated at Washing- 
ton's Monument, then finished, where ceremonies appropriate 
to the occasion took place. 

20. In 1841 Francis Thomas was elected governor of the 
state, and Thomas G. Pratt succeeded to the office in 1844. 

21. In 1844 the Historical Society of Maryland was 
founded, and General John Spear Smith was its first presi- 
dent. Under his administration it rapidly advanced to- 
ward its present great usefulness as a safe depository of 
the relics, whose preservation ennobles a people. This so- 
ciety has done a great deal toward the collection and pres- 
ervation of scarce manuscripts relating to the history of 
the state; yet a greater part of its duty still remains undone. 
Upon the achieving of its independence, it should have 
been the first care of every state to publish its historical 
documents, for the nature of history demands this attention. 
The arts and sciences may recover their materials when lost, 
but history never. If poetry perish, a new poetic era will 
appear ; if the principles of philosophy, medicine, or archi- 
tecture be lost or forgotten, they may be recovered, for na- 
ture and man remain the same. If historical facts perish, 
they can never be restored. 

22. In 1845 the province of Texas was annexed to the 
United States. It belonged to Mexico, but had recently de- 
clared itself independent, and the people declaring in favor of 
the government of the United States, a war with Mexico was 



THE MEXICAN WAS. 277 

precipitated. President Polk ordered General Taylor to 
occupy the western boundary of Texas, and taking up his 
position, he planted his cannon within range of Matamoras, 
a Mexican town on the opposite bank of the Rio Grande. 

23. In 1846 active hostilities commenced, and, the war 
assuming unexpected proportions, did not terminate until, in 
the autumn of 1847, General Scott penetrated the country 
into the city of Mexico. In February, 1848, a treaty of 
peace was signed, Mexico was conquered, and the war was 
at an end. This treaty gave the territories of New Mexico 
and Upper California to the United States, and fixed the 
river Rio Grande as the boundary of Texas. 

24. In the war Maryland was represented by several 
companies of brave men, officered by such men as Major 
Samuel Ringgold, a graduate of the Military Academy at 
West Point, Colonel William H. Watson, Captain Oden 
Bowie, Lieutenant Randolph Ridgely, Captain John Eager 
Howard, Captain Archer, Captain Kenly, Captain Walker, 
and Lieutenant Swan. 

25. Major Ringgold was killed at the battle of Palo Alto, 
and his remains were buried with great honors in Green- 
mount cemetery, in Baltimore. Colonel Watson fell at the 
battle of Monterey ; Lieutenant Randolph Ridgely was 
killed by a fall from his horse ; and no officer from Maryland 
is known who did not distinguish himself in the war with 
Mexico. Their bravery will long be remembered with pride 
in their native state. 

26. In 1846 that portion of the District of Columbia 
south of the Potomac River was ceded back to Virginia, 
and the present District, therefore, lies wholly upon the 
soil of Maryland. The Maryland act of cession was passed 
on the 23d of December, 1788, and that of Virginia on the 
3d of December, 1789. 

27. In 1847 Philip Francis Thomas was elected governor 
of the state, and Enoch Louis Lowe in 1850. 



£78 TU fi HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

28. On the 4th of July, 1851, a new constitution of Ma- 
ryland was established, the 44th section of which declared 
that no person should be imprisoned for debt. This consti- 
tution abolished the court of chancery on the 4th of July, 
1853, and the judicial power of the state was vested in a 
court of appeals and in circuit courts. The court of ap- 
peals, as at present, had appellate jurisdiction only. It 
is now composed of the chief judges of the first seven of 
the several judicial circuits of the state, and a judge from 
the city of Baltimore, specially elected thereto. These 
judges serve for fifteen years, or until they reach the age 
of seventy. 

29. By the constitution of 1851 all that part of Anne 
Arundel County known as Howard District, lying north- 
west of the line beginning at the intersection of the west 
shore of Deep run, with the southwestern shore of the Po- 
tapsco River at or near Ellicott's Furnace, and running 
thence southwesterly with said Deep run until it reaches 
the Baltimore and Washington railroad, and thence with 
said railroad, including the same, until it reaches the south- 
western line of Anne Arundel County, on the Big Patuxent 
River, was erected into a new county, and named Howard 
County, after Colonel John Eager Howard, the elder. Elli- 
cott City, a flourishing manufacturing place on the Patap- 
sco River, is the county seat. 

30. In 1852 the Baltimore and Ohio railroad was fin- 
ished as far as the Ohio River at Wheeling, in Virginia. 

31. In 1853 Thomas Watkins Ligon, of Howard County, 
was elected governor, and in 1857 Thomas Ilolliday Hicks, 
of Dorchester County, was chosen to that office. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

1861-1882. 

War of 1801. — Governor Swann. — Governor Bowie. — Constitution of 1807. — 
Public Schools. — Washington's Monument. — Public Buildings. — Parks.— 
The Great Seal.— Maryland in 1880. 

1. In 1861 the states south of Maryland which border 
on the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, including 
two others in the interior, withdrew from the Union, and 
between them and the general government a war ensued. 

2. The people of Maryland took sides in this war ac- 
cording to their respective political opinions, but, owing to 
their conservative views and enlightened policy, the pros- 
perity of the state during the continuance of the war was 
not materially retarded. She lost, however, the greater 
portion of her trade with the South, yet made up that loss 
through channels which opened from other directions al- 
most as profitable as those which had been closed or diverted 
from her. 

3. Invading armies marched in different directions over 
her soil, and several battles were fought upon it, yet she es- 
caped the ravages of war to a remarkable degree. The 
government of the United States bore the great strain 
brought to bear upon it, its supremacy was maintained, and 
peace was declared in 1865. 

4. In 1861 Augustus W. Bradford, of Baltimore, was 
elected governor. 

5. In 1864 a new constitution was adopted, which intro- 
duced several important changes in the policy of the state. 



280 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

6. It abolished the institution of slavery, which had 
been handed down to us by our colonial ancestors. 

7. It provided for a uniform system of "free public 
schools," to be administered by a state board of education 
and a state superintendent of public instruction, and in 18G5 
an act was passed under which a uniform system of free 
public schools was organized throughout the state. Under 
this act a state normal school was established, for the edu- 
cation of teachers. It was at first located in temporary 
places in the city of Baltimore, but subsequently a hand- 
some building for its accommodation was erected by the 
state in the northwestern part of the city. 

8. In 1865 Thomas Swann, of Baltimore city, was elected 
governor. Prior to his election, he had been president of 
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company, and during his 
administration the road was constructed over the most dif- 
ficult part of the route toward the Great West, so that 
when it was finished as far as Wheeling, a distance of three 
hundred and seventy-nine miles from Baltimore, it was said 
that " Bonaparte conquered the Alps ; Swann the Allegha- 
nies." 

9. In 1867 Oden Bowie was elected governor, and in the 
same year a new constitution for the state was adopted. 
Under this constitution the government consists of three 
branches, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. 
The state is divided into twenty-three counties, eight judi- 
cial districts, six congressional districts, and twenty-six 
senatorial districts. Each county is divided into election 
districts, and these are subdivided into school districts. 

10. The legislative branch of the government consists 
of a senate and house of delegates. The senate is composed 
of twenty-six members, one from each county, and three 
from the city of Baltimore. The house of delegates con- 
sists of eighty-four members, elected every two years ; the 
senators are elected for four, and the sessions are held hi- 



JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. 281 

ennially, or once in two years. The length of a session can 
not extend over ninety days. 

11. The executive power of the state is vested in a gov- 
ernor, who holds office for four years. He has power to 
veto bills passed by the general assembly, to grant pardons, 
and to appoint various state officers. 

12. The judicial department consists of a court of ap- 
peals, circuit courts, special courts for the city of Baltimore, 
orphans' courts, and justices of the peace. Maryland is a 
part of the fourth judicial circuit of the United States, and 
a circuit and district court of the United States are held in 
Baltimore. 

13. The laws of the state provide for the education of 
all children, white and colored, between the ages of six and 
twenty-one years. The present school system of the state 
was established in 1865, and consists at present of a state 
board of education, boards of county school commissioners, 
and school district trustees. 

14. High as well as graded schools have been established 
in many of the counties of the state, and Baltimore city has 
a special school system under the control of a city school 
board. This system embraces a city college, two female 
high schools, grammar, and primary schools. There is also 
a state normal school in Baltimore and a normal school for 
training colored teachers. 

15. At the head of all the institutions of learning in the 
state stands the Johns Hopkins University, organized in 
1876, and embracing schools of law, medicine, science, and 
the classics. 

16. The Peabody Institute, named after its founder, 
George Peabody, located on Charles Street, in Baltimore, is 
devoted to fine arts, science, and literature ; and the Johns 
Hopkins Hospital, established in the same city for the recep- 
tion and treatment of indigent sick persons, will not fall 
behind any similar institution in the world. 



2S2 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

17. Among the great objects of interest in Maryland is 
Washington's Monument, on North Charles Street, in the 
city of Baltimore. It is chaste, noble, and grand, always 
exciting the admiration of the beholder. From its upper 
balcony, near the statue of the great chief, is afforded the 
iinest view of the city, the Chesapeake, and the surrounding 
country. 

18. The Atheneum building, on the corner of St. Paul 
and Saratoga Streets, is another great object of interest, 
inasmuch as it contains the library and gallery of paintings 
of the Maryland Historical Society. 

19. The Maryland Institute, for the promotion of the 
mechanic arts, is located on Baltimore Street. It contains 
one of the largest halls in the Union, a well selected li- 
brary, schools of art and design, and a commercial depart- 
ment. 

20. The state penitentiary is located on Madison Street, 
and the jail is on the same street, both large and complete 
structures of the kind. 

21. The house of refuge, on the western side of the city, 
is a reformatory institution doing an excellent work in re- 
claiming juvenile offenders ; and the Maryland Hospital for 
the Insane, at Spring Grove, is an institution of great use- 
fulness. 

22. Druid Hill Park, one of the most extensive and beau- 
tiful pleasure-grounds in the United States, is located at the 
northwestern suburbs of Baltimore city. It contains seven 
hundred acres of woodland, lake, and lawn, is noted for the 
beauty and variety of its scenery, and so bountifully has 
natiu-e bestowed her beauties upon it that art has but little 
to do by way of improvement. 

23. Patterson Park, in the eastern section of the city, 
contains fifty-five acres of ground, and commands a magnifi- 
cent view of the harbor of Baltimore, the river, and Ches- 
apeake Bay. A part of the ground for the park was donated 



THE COUNTY OF GARRETT ERECTED. 283 

to the city by William Patterson, a wealthy merchant of 
Baltimore in the olden time, whose daughter, in 1803, was 
married to Jerome Bonaparte, brother to Emperor Napoleon, 
of France. 

24. The constitution of 1867 provided for the formation 
of a new county from parts of Worcester and Somerset 
Counties, which provision having been ratified by a vote of 
the people residing within the territory proposed for such 
new county, it was erected in the year 1867, and called 
Wicomico, after a river of the same name. Salisbury was 
made the county seat. 

25. In 1871 William Pinkney Whyte, of Baltimore, was 
elected governor. 

26. In 1872 all that part of Allegany County lying 
south and west of a line beginning at the summit of Big 
Backbone, or Savage Mountain, where that mountain is 
crossed by Mason and Dixon's line, and running thence by 
a straight line to the middle of Savage River where it emp- 
ties into the Potomac River, thence by a straight line to 
the nearest point or boundary of West Virginia, was erected 
into a new county and called the county of Garrett, after 
John W. Garrett. Oakland, on the top of the Alleghany 
Mountains, is the county seat. 

27. In 1874 James Black Groome was elected governor. 

28. In this year the legislature passed an act concerning 
the great seal of the state. This act authorized the governor 
to have the great seal of the state so altered as to make it 
conform to the arms of Lord Baltimore, as represented on 
the title-^age of "Bacon's Laws of Maryland," printed at 
Annapolis in 1765 by Jonas Gi-een. 

29. The first great seal made after the Revolutionary 
war by order of the governor's council was a hanging seal 
with impressions on each side. On one side was the figure 
of Justice elevating her well-balanced scales above her head 
with her left hand, while her right hand grasped an olive 



284 THE IIISTOEY OF MARYLAND. 

branch. At her feet were the fasces and other emblems. 
The whole was surrounded by the inscription : " Great 
Seal of the State of Maryland." On the other side were a 
hogshead of tobacco, some wheat sheaves, and a ship under 
sail, surrounded by the appropriate motto : " Industry the 
Means, .and Plenty the Result." The impressions were 
made on wax, and suspended to the document, like the old 
provincial seals. 

30. The devices on the second great seal of the state 
consisted of an American eagle with wings displayed, hav- 
ing on its breast an escutcheon, the chief or upper part of 
which was azure, the remaining portion being occupied by 
vertical stripes of red and white. In the dexter talon of 
the eagle was the olive branch of peace, and in the sinister 
a bundle of three arrows, denoting the three great branches 
of government, the legislative, the executive, and the judi- 
cial. In a semicircle over the head of the eagle were thir- 
teen stars, representing the thirteen original states. The 
inner border of the seal contained the words, " Seal of the 
State of Maryland." The outer border was ornamental. 

31. In 1854 a law was passed, instructing the governor 
to procure a new great seal for the use of the state. It was 
to contain on its face the arms of the state, as previously 
known and accepted, with the motto, "Crescite ct multipli- 
caminV On the upper part of the circle the words " The 
Great Seal " were to be inscribed, and at the bottom, in two 
horizontal lines, the words " of Maryland " ; on the left 
side of the circle, near the bottom, the figures " 1032 " were 
to be placed, and on the right side the figures " 1854." 
This seal was made and used according to law. 

32. The arms of the state, "as previously known and 
accepted," consisted of the figure of an eagle with wings 
spread, standing upon the apex of a shield, resembling that 
seen on the great seal of the province. Upon the face 
of the shield were represented the cross bottony, the paly 



AN ACT TO ALTER THE GREAT SEAL OF THE STATE. 285 

of six, topaz and diamond, and the bend counterehanged, 
symbolizing the arms of the Lords Baltimore. The shield 
was supported by the figures of a fisherman and farmer. 

33. The act of 1874, previously mentioned, provided for 
another great seal to be made to take the place of the seal 
Qf_1854, but, on examination, it was found that the arms of 




THE POE MEMORIAL IX WESTMINSTER CHURCHYARD. 

Erected by the Teachers and Scholars of the Public Schools of Baltimore. 



Lord Baltimore were not represented on the title-page of 
Bacon's " Laws of Maryland," and no seal was made. 

34. In 1876 another act was passed, authorizing the 
governor to have the great seal of the state altered so that 
it should bear the arms of Maryland, as represented upon 
the great seal furnished the province in 1648, by Cecilius, 



280 TIIE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Lord Baron of Baltimore. The law was complied with, ac- 
cording to the interpretation of its terms by the executive 
officer, and a seal was made, which is the present great seal 
of the state. 

35. In 1875 John Lee Carroll, of Howard County, was 
elected governor, and in 1879 William T. Hamilton, of 
Washington County, was chosen to that office. 

36. On the 17th of November, 1875, a monument was 
erected to the memory of the poet Edgar Allan Poe, of 
Maryland, who died in Baltimore, and was buried in West- 
minster churchyard in that city, on the 9th of October, 1849. 
The erection of this monument was the successful consumma- 
tion of a movement instituted by the Teachers' Association 
of Baltimore, in 1865, to erect upon the grave of Mr. Poe a 
monument worthy of that inspired genius. When this mon- 
ument had been completed, his remains were removed to the 
front of the churchyard, and there, above all that remained 
of Maryland's gifted poet, the enduring marble was erected. 
It stands as a sign to future generations that the people of 
Maryland are not forgetful to honor literary genius. 

37. On that day an audience of marked intelligence 
and refinement was attracted to the hall of the Western 
Female High School, which adjoins the churchyard. Ap- 
propriate orations were delivered on the occasion, and trib- 
utes of respect and veneration for the deceased poet were 
received from various American poets, together with a letter 
from Alfred Tennyson, poet-laureate of England. These 
were read on the occasion, and the large audience listened 
to the reader with deep interest, receiving new ideas of the 
transcendent genius of Edgar Allan Poe. A starting-point 
was made to a changed and juster view of his life and char- 
acter. 

38. In the same year the new City Hall of Baltimore 
was dedicated to the purposes for which it was erected. 
This is the most substantial and imposing building in Ma- 



THE GROWTH OF MARYLAND. 



2S7 



ryland, and one of the most beautiful in the United States. 
It covers an area of more than thirty thousand square feet, 
is faced on all sides with white marble quarried in Mary- 
land, and the point of its dome is two hundred and thirty- 
six feet above the street. It was erected at a cost of about 
two and a quarter millions of dollars. 

39. Maryland reached in 1881 the two hundred and fif- 
tieth year from the date of her charter (1G32), and it may 
be said that her growth and progress have been remark- 




;':-; 



; r-rr 



JBilifa] 





NEW CITY HALL, BALTIMORE. 

able. While some domestic troubles occurred during her 
colonial period, her history is comparatively free from the 
stains of those acts of wrong and injustice which mar the 
annals of many other states and countries. The demon of 
superstition and the fell spirit of fanaticism found little 
foothold within her borders. The intelligence and liberal 
principles of her early settlers secured the enactment of 
laws which fostered freedom, and established religious tol- 
eration. Her policy toward the neighboring colonier? and 
the red man within her territory was mainly just and gen- 



288 * THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

erous. These acts clearly establish her claim to stand in 
the first rank as a pioneer in the cause of civil and relig- 
ious liberty. 

40. It is true that Maryland drew a part of her early 
population from the other provinces. The Puritans, perse- 
cuted by the Established Church in Virginia; the Quakers, 
oppressed by the synod of Massachusetts; and the Dutch, 
expelled from Delaware, sought and found a generous pro- 
tection and an entire freedom of religious worship in the 
colony of Maryland. The toleration act of 1649 set free 
all the inhabitants of the province, and she thenceforth took 
steps in the lead of civil and religious liberty, which she has 
not yet retraced. On every page of her law-books the most 
salutary statutes are spread out before the people to invite 
their footsteps to the paths of honor, virtue, intelligence, 
and religion. An enlightened and virtuous people can 
never be enslaved, and this was evinced from the fact that 
the people of Maryland took the earliest steps in the cause 
of national independence. 

41. The convention which framed the constitution of 
the United States was the outgrowth of meetings held by 
commissioners appointed by Maryland and Virginia to ad- 
just their commercial relations, and some of its provisions 
bear a striking resemblance to provisions contained in the 
original constitution of Maryland. The renown of Dan- 
iel Dulany for legal abilities, in provincial times, has 
been emulated in later days by her Martin, Pinkney, 
Taney, Wirt, and Johnson, whose fame as able jurists has 
extended to all parts of the Union. The bench and the 
bar of the state in them suffered great loss, yet time and 
circumstances may produce minds not unworthy to rank 
with theirs. 

42. The site of Baltimore, chosen for the accommoda- 
tion of the heaviest shipping belonging to the world at that 
time, determined the question of the rapid development of 



CELEBRATION OF THE SESQUI-CENTENNIAL. 2S9 

the city ; yet much is due to the enterprise and energy of 
the men who laid its foundation, pledging their fortunes in 
support of its prosperity. 

43. It soon became apparent that Maryland would at- 
tract the trade of the great valley of the Mississippi, and 
then her citizens carved out for her a highway through the 
Alleghany, or Appalachian, chain of mountains, with a cour- 
age and persistence which commanded the admiration of the 
world. They ceased not to labor until Baltimore was con- 
nected by railroad with the Ohio River. 

44. When this great work was done, the commercial 
position of Maryland was made permanent for all time to 
come ; and barriers were soon broken down to admit trade 
westward from the shore of the Atlantic, as well as east- 
ward from the empire of China. 

45. In 1880 the sesqui-centennial, or one hundred and 
fiftieth anniversary, of Baltimore was celebrated in that 
city, continuing more than a week, in the month of Octo- 
ber. There was during the whole time a general holiday 
in the city, and almost everywhere throughout the state. 

46. Representations of the growth of Baltimore and 
Maryland appeared in each day's procession ; and compe- 
tent witnesses declared that no civic or triumphal j)roces- 
sions in Europe ever exceeded those in Baltimore for num- 
bers and grandeur of display. 

47. The administrative ability manifested by the mayor 
and police in the government of the city, during the pres- 
ence of unreckoned thousands in motion, was without a 
parallel in the history of governments, and it wiped away 
for ever the old aspersion which bestowed upon the city the 
unjust and slanderous misnomer of " Mob town." Harmony 
and good feeling prevailed among the people ; no arrests 
were made except to prevent pressure of crowd upon crowd ; 
and an unfriendly encounter was not iieard of during the 
memorable week of rejoicing. 

13 



290 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

48. The processions and the multitudes of spectators on 
the sidewalks afforded a striking illustration of the good 
humor of Maryland crowds, and the patience with which 
policemen's orders may be obeyed. 

49. Old Baltimore and old Maryland, 'that had been so 
rapidly receding into history, were again brought vividly 
before the view, and there was seen in procession a repre- 
sentation of the horse, the driver, and hogshead of tobacco, 
as they made their way along some old rolling road laid 
out in the royal days of old Maryland. 

50. Following after similar representations of labor in 
the olden time, came exhibits of skilled labor : its labor- 
saving appliances, its scientific economies, its precise meth- 
ods, and the amount of capital invested in material and 
appliances, as well as the present immense capacities for 
the transportation and distribution of products in demand. 

51. It was estimated that eighty* thousand strangers 
visited Baltimore on the first day of the celebration ; and, 
considering some of the large and unwieldy tableaux in 
procession, it is highly creditable and pleasing that there 
were no accidents. The zeal, the energy, and the intelli- 
gent comprehension of their duties exhibited by the mu- 
nicipal committees deserve generous recognition. They 
furnished Baltimore and its thousands upon thousands of 
visitors with such a spectacle as never before was witnessed 
in any American city, and " if in the future the enterprise 
of the Monumental City should be called in question, here 
is a record of achievement that will be a perpetual refuta- 
tion of the slander." , 

52. In October, 1881, the first Oriole celebration took 
place in Baltimore, lasting three days. On the tenth, the 
introduction of the permanent water supply from the Gun- 
powder River into the city by means of a costly tunnel was 
formally completed. A fountain and cascade were pre- 
pared at Monument Square, and the water was turned on 



PRINCE FREDERICK DESTROYED BY FIRE. 201 

by Mayor Latrobe in the presence of an immense crowd. 
On the eleventh, at night, a procession of allegorical ta- 
bleaux on floats paraded some of the principal streets. 

53. During the celebration the French and German 
guests to the Yorktown centennial were entertained by the 
city. On the night of the twelfth a ball was given in their 
honor at the Academy of Music, and a brilliant display of 
fireworks took place at Druid Hill Park. 

54. The legislature met on the 4th of January, 1882. 
The house of delegates at this time consists of ninety-one 
members, the counties being represented according to their 
population as shown by the census of 1880, as the constitu- 
tion of the state requires. An act was passed providing 
for a new registration of voters throughout the state. 

55. Provision was made for marking the boundary line 
between the states of Maryland and Virginia, in conform- 
ity with the aw r ard of the arbitrators, to whom were submit- 
ted the controversies which had existed for over two cen- 
turies. The line agreed upon by the arbitrators had been 
accepted by Maryland and Virginia, and confirmed by the 
Congress of the United States, and it only remained to 
erect durable monuments to fix this line. 

56. An act was passed providing for the preservation, 
arrangement, publication, and sale of ancient documents 
pertaining to Maryland. The Maryland Historical Society 
was made the custodian of all the records, archives, and 
ancient documents of any date prior to the acknowledg- 
ment of the independence of the United States by Great 
Britain. Two thousand dollars were appropriated to aid 
in their publication, and the society is allowed to sell the 
publications at cost price, and add the proceeds to the pub- 
lication fund. 

57. On the 3d of March, Prince Frederick, the county- 
seat of Calvert County, was almost entirely destroyed by 
fire. With the court-house, many valuable records, some 



292 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

of them dating as far back as 1650, were destroyed. These 
papers were invaluable on account both of their legal and 
historical importance. The few books and papers saved 
were destroyed by a subsequent fire in the building in which 
they had been stored. 

58. Enoch Pratt, Esq., a wealthy citizen of Baltimore, 
offered to erect, at his own expense, a building on Mulberry 
Street for a free circulating library, to cost $250,000, and 
to give to the city of Baltimore the sum of #833,333.38, 
provided the city would appropriate annually $50,000 for 
the support of "The Enoch Pratt Free Library." The 
offer was accepted, and the library will in due time be 
opened. 

59. This generous gift provides for the city of Balti- 
more what had previously been wanting — a circulating li- 
brary free to all. For the convenience of readers, it is pro- 
posed to establish branch libraries in different sections of 
the city. With the Johns Hopkins University, the Pea- 
body and Historical Society's libraries, for students and 
scholars, and the Mercantile, Maryland Institute, and Enoch 
Pratt circulating libraries, for the reading public generally, 
the citizens of Baltimore have ample means of continuing 
the education afforded by her public and private schools. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

1882—1890. 

Population. — Fires. — Presidential Elections. — Standard Time. — Electric 
Light. — Earthquake Year. — Annexation of the "Belt." — Arbor Day.— 
Johnstown Flood. — Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. — Acts of Assembly.— 
Commerce of Baltimore. 

1 . The decade ending with the year 1 890 is not distin- 
guished by any remarkable events. Population increased 
about fifteen per cent., the census of 1880 giving 934,632, 
and that of 1890 1,070,000. The increase is larger, in 
proportion, in the city of Baltimore and other centres of 
population than in the rural districts. The population of 
Baltimore City is reported to be 434,151, an increase of 
101,833 in ten years. It is now the seventh city of the 
United States as regards population, coming after New 
York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Boston and St. 
Louis. 

2. The more general use of improved labor-saving 
machines in agriculture has made country life more pleas- 
ant, if not more profitable, than heretofore. Some large 
farms have been broken up into smaller holdings, and many 
tracts, formerly planted in corn, are now devoted to peaches, 
berries, tomatoes and other market vegetables. The profits 
of the farmers are, however, much reduced by the crops 
having to go through the hands of middlemen before reach- 
ing the consumer. It is one of the purposes of the " Far- 



2<)4 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

mefs' Alliance" to remedy this evil. The ''Alliance " also 
proposes to diminish the power of self -perpetuating political 
workers, to select only pure and honest men for office, and 
to enlarge the volume of the currency to correspond with 
the actual wants of the people. The advent of the farmer 
into politics is emphasized by the passage (1889) of a bill 
by Congress, creating a " Department of Agriculture," the 
Secretary of which has a seat in the Cabinet. 

3. Several serious fires have occurred in the county 
towns since the destruction of Prince Frederick, in Calvert 
County. In Crisfield (1882 and '83,) Lonaconing (1885,) 
Salisbury (1886) and Pocomoke City (1888.) The conse- 
quences, though disastrous to individuals, have been the 
improvement of the towns by the widening of streets and 
the erection of a better class of buildings, and by the intro- 
duction of a larger and better supply of water. In many 
instances, contracts for rebuilding were signed while the 
ashes were still smoking. 

4. The Presidential election of 1884 created even more 
than the usual excitement. The Republican party had held 
possession of the powers of government since the election 
of Mr. Lincoln, who succeeded Mr. Buchanan in 1801. 
The long unbroken series was now interrupted by the elec- 
tion of Grover Cleveland on the Democratic ticket ; but the 
next election (1888) reversed the results of 1884, and seated 
Benjamin Harrison (Republican) in the Presidential chair. 
In both elections Maryland went Democratic. It is worthy 
of notice that the " Prohibition " candidate received at this 
last election nearly twice as many votes as in the preceding. 
The purpose of the " Prohibitionists" is to found a party 
which shall prevent the use of intoxicating liquors as a 
beverage throughout the United States, and also to prohibit 
or restrict the manufacture and sale of such liquors. 

5. On the 1 8th of November, 1 883, " Standard Time " 
was adopted in Baltimore and generally throughout Mary- 



GOVERNOR M'LANE. 295 

laud, to the great convenience of the public and especially 
of travelers. The difference between local time and stand- 
ard time is six minutes and twenty-eight seconds ; so on 
the 18th of November, at 6'28" before noon, the clocks were 
set forward to twelve o'clock. In this year, also, the streets 
of Baltimore were lighted by electricity for the first time. 
The example has been followed by nearly all the towns of 
the State. 

6. In 1883 Robert M. McLane was elected governor, 
but on being appointed Minister to France he resigned 
March 27th, 1884, and was succeeded by Henry Lloyd 
of Dorchester, then President of the Senate of Maryland. 

7. The two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the 
landing of the ''pilgrims'' of Maryland was celebrated in 
Baltimore on the 25th of March, 1884. The first actual 
occupation of the site of the future city of St. Mary's took 
place two days after the landing, and this anniversary was 
also observed on the 27th with appropriate ceremonies. 

8. On the 16th of December, 1884, the "World's 
Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition " was opened 
at New Orleans. The opening ceremony was performed 
by the President of the United States in Washington, who 
pressed a button which was in electrical communication 
with the machinery of the Exposition at New Orleans. 
The mineral, agricultural, manufacturing and educational 
resources of this State were well represented and obtained 
appropriate recognition. Compared with the collective 
exhibits of the grandest of the States, the Maryland exhibit 
showed a variety of natural resources and a perfection in 
the products of cultivation not second to any other State 
in the Union, California alone excepted. Maryland flour 
took the lead against the strongest competition from the 
great wheat-growing States. The most complete classified 
collection of ores, minerals, marble and woods at the Expo- 
sition came from Maryland. It included a large number 



296 T1IE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

of specimens of granite unci over 200 varieties of marble, 
as well as iron, copper, lead and chrome ores, asbestos, lime- 
stone and marl. Slate from Harford County and kaolin 
(a line clay used in making porcelain and china) from Cecil 
County, were considered the finest on exhibition. In fish 
and oysters Maryland easily took the lead, and it is said 
that "the largest and best display of any one class of goods 
at the Exposition was the Maryland exhibit of canned 
goods."' [Report of the Maryland Commissioners.] A 
block of Cumberland coal from the George's Creek mines, 
four feet square at base and top and ten feet high, attracted 
general attention. The educational resources of the State 
were represented by water-color drawings of the principal 
school and college buildings, and by a very attractive exhibit 
of pupils' work. 

9. The Enoch Pratt Free Public Library was formally 
opened on the 4th of January, 1886, with 20,000 volumes 
in the main building and 3,000 in each of the four branch 
libraries. It now contains 90,000 volumes in the main 
building and five branches, and affords instruction and 
amusement to more than 45,000 readers. 

10. This year passed into history as " the earthquake 
year." In the United States, August 31st, the disturbance 
extended from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, and from the 
Mississippi to the Atlantic Ocean. The city of Charleston, 
South Carolina, was almost wrecked ; two-thirds of the 
buildings were more or less damaged, and thirty-eight per- 
sons killed by the falling ruins. The city of Baltimore 
contributed $70,000 to the relief of the sufferers. 

11. At the November elections in 1887 Elihu E. 
Jackson, of Wicomico County, was elected governor. The 
legislature had provided for a call for a constitutional con- 
vention to remedy some supposed defects in the present con- 
stitution, subject to the approval of the people at the polls. 
The call was defeated, the people apparently choosing rather 



ANNEXATION OF THE "BELT." 297 

to hear the ills they had "than fly to others that they 

know not of." ■ 

12 Next year (1888) a portion of Baltimore County, 
lvino- adjacent to Baltimore City on the north and west, was, 
by act of the legislature, ratified by the vote of the people, 
added to the territory of the city. The eastern section de- 
clined to he annexed. The annexation added about 25,000 
to the population of Baltimore, This year also witnessed 
the formal opening of the Woman's College, the re-organi- 
zation of the Mercantile Library, and the celebration of the 
Centennial of the founding of Easton, Talbot County. 

13 The Johns Hopkins Hospital was opened to the 
public on the 7th of July, 1889. All the resources of mod- 
ern science have been brought into action to make it the 
best built, the best arranged, and the best equipped institu- 
tion of the kind in the world. The Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity receive several valuable donations this year : $100,- 
000 contributed to the "emergency fund;" $100,000 from 
Mrs Caroline Donovan; $20,000 from Mr. Eugene Levering, 
to build a hall for the university members of the Young 
Men's Christian Association; and $20,000 as a foundation 
of the Turnbull School of Poetry. 

14. The first •' Arbor Day " under the joint resolution 
of 1884 was celebrated on the 10th of April very generally 
throughout the State, by the planting of trees by pupils of 
the public schools, and by appropriate literary and musical 

exercises. . 

15. Several citizens of Maryland lost their lives in 
the great "Johnstown flood," which was caused by the 
bursting of a dam on the Conemaugh Eiver in Pennsyl- 
vania, under an immense pressure of water. It is estimated 
that 'over 5,000 persons were killed, and property to the 
amount of nearly $39,000,000 was destroyed in this disaster. 
The rain-fall which caused the calamity— six inches in 
thirty-two hours— also damaged the Chesapeake and Ohio 



298 TITE AUSTRALIAN ELECTION LAW. 

canal to such an extent that it is useless at present, and its 
reconstruction very doubtful. An order of court has been 
passed, authorizing the sale of the canal to the highest bid- 
der ; but the execution of the order has been delayed by an 
appeal from the bond-holders of 1844, who profess a desire 
to take possession of the canal on certain conditions, for the 
purpose of operating it as a water-way. 

16. On the 23rd of September, the citizens of Alle- 
gany commenced the celebration of the first centennial of 
the county. The exercises, which lasted three days, were 
appropriate and well arranged, and excited much enthusi- 
asm. One of the most interesting features was a parade of 
school children from every section of the county, decorated 
with badges, Avaving miniature flags, and singing patriotic 
songs. 

17. The most important acts of the last General As- 
sembly (1890) were : a revision of the oyster laws, looking 
to the further protection of oysters in our bay and rivers, 
and the passage of a modification of the Australian Election 
Law, which is intended to secure accurate registration of 
voters, perfect secrecy, and an honest count of the ballots. 
The first election under this law will be held on the 4th of 
November. The results are looked for with much interest 
and some apprehension. 

18. The value of goods imported into Baltimore in 
1889 was $15,435,375, and of goods exported $61,131,509. 
Compared with the preceding year, this shows an increase 
of about twenty-five per cent, on imports and over thirty- 
three per cent, on exports; but compared with 1880, it 
shows a decrease of over seventeen per cent, on both exports 
and imports. 



LIST OF THE COUNTIES IN MARYLAND. 



299 



LIST OF THE COUNTIES IN MARYLAND. 



Counties. 


Organized. 


Population, 1880. 


County Seats. 




1634 
1650 
1650 
1654 
1658 
1659 
1660 
1666 
1674 
1695 
1669 
1706 
1742 
1748 
1773 
1773 
1776 
1776 
1789 
1836 
1851 
1867 
1872 


16,934 
28,526 
17,605 
10,538 
18,548- 
83,334 
19,065 
21,668 
27,108 
26,265 
23,110 
19,259 
19,539 
50,482 
28,042 
13,767 
38,560 
24,759 
38,011 
30,992 
16,141 
18,011 
12,175 


Leonardtown. 
Annapolis. 




Chestertown. 


Calvert 


Prince Frederick. 




Port Tobacco. 
Towsontovvn. 


r Talbot 

S Cecil 


Easton. 

Princess Anne. 
Elkton. 




Upper Marlboro. 




Cambridge. 
Centrcville. 
Snow Hill. 
Frederick City. 




Bel Air. 

Denton. 

Hagerstown. 

Rockville. 

Cumberland. 




Westminster. 
Ellicott City. 
Salisbury. 
Oakland. 



LIST OF THE LORDS PROPRIETARY OF THE PROVINCE 
OF MARYLAND. 



George Calvert 



Ceciliits Calvert. 



Lord Baron of Baltimore in the Kingdom of 
Ireland from 1625, and Lord Proprietary 
of the Province of Avalon from about the 
same time. He was Lord Proprietary of 
the Province of Maryland from about the 
year 1631 to April 15, 1632, when he 
died. " 

Lord Baltimore and Lord Proprietary of the 
Provinces of Maryland and Avalon from 
April 15, 1632, to November 30, 1675, 
when he died. 



300 



THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



LIST OF THE LORDS PROPRIETARY OF THE PROVINCE 
OF MARYLAND.^ Gmitinued.) 

Charles Calvert Lord Baltimore and Lord Proprietary of the 

Provinces of Maryland and Avalon from 
November 30, 1675, to February 24, 1714, 
\ \ when he died. 

Benedict Leonard Calvert. The same from February 24, 1714, to April 

5, 1715, when he died. 

Charles Calvert The same from April 5, 1715, to April 23, 

1751, when he died. 

Frederick Calvert. The same from April 23, 1751, to September 

14, 1771, when he died. 

Henry Harford (Proprietary of the Province of Maryland from 

September 14, 1771, to 1776, the date of 
the Declaration of Independence. 



PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS OF MARYLAND 

PROPRIETARY. 

Leonard Calvert 1634 

Thomas Greene 1647 

William Stone 1648 

Commissioners of Parliament. .1654 

Josias Fcndall 1657 

Philip Calvert 1660 



Charles Calvert 1662 

-X'harles, Lord Baltimore 1676 

Thomas Notley 1678 

Charles, Lord Baltimore 1681 

William Joseph, President. . . .1685 
Protestant Convention 16S9 



L 



ROYAL. 

Sir Lionel Copley 1692 

Sir Edmond Andros, temporary. 1693 

Francis Nicholson 1694 

Nathaniel Blackistone 1698 



Thomas Tench, Pres 1703 

John Seymour 1704 

Edward Lloyd, Pres 1709 

John Hart 1714 



PROPRIETARY. 



John Hart 1715 

Charles Calvert 1720 

Benedict Leonard Calvert 1727 

Samuel Ogle 1732 

Charles, Lord Baltimore 1733 

Samuel Ogle 1735 



Thomas Bladen 1742 

Samuel Ogle 1747 

Benjamin Tasker, Pres 1752 

Horatio Sharpe 1753 

Robert Eden 1769 



GOVERNORS OF THE STATE. 



301 



GOVERNORS OF THE STATE. 



Thomas Johnson 17*7*7 

Thomas Sim Lee 1779 

William Paca 1782 

William Smallwood 1785 

John Eager Howard 1788 

George Plater 1791 

Thomas Sim Lee 1792 

John H. Stone 1791 

John Henry • ■ 1797 

Benjamin Ogle 179S 

John Francis Mercer 1801 

Robert Bowie 1803 

Robert Wright 1806 

Edward Lloyd 1809 

Robert Bowie 1811 

Levin Winder 1812 

Charles Ridgely 1815 

Charles Goldsborough 1818 

Samuel Sprigg 1819 

Samuel Stevens 1822 

Joseph Kent 1825 

Daniel Martin 1828 

Thomas K. Carroll 1829 



Daniel Martin 1830 

George Howard 1831 

James Thomas 1832 

Thomas W. Veazey 1835 

William Grason 1838 

Francis Thomas 1841 

Thomas G. Pratt 1844 

Philip Francis Thomas 1847 

E. Louis Lowe 1850 

Thomas Watkins Ligon 1853 

Thomas Holliday Hicks 1857 

Augustus W. Bradford 1861 

Thomas Swann 1865 

Oden Bowie 1867 

William Pinkney Whyte 1871 

James Black Groome 1874 

John Lee Carroll 1875 

William T. Hamilton 1879 

Robert M. McLane 1883 

Henry Lloyd 1884 

Elihu E. Jackson 1887 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



George Calvert born 1580 

Entered All Saints College 1593 

Made Bachelor of Arts 1*597 

Made Master of Arts 1605 

Knighted as Sir George 1617 

Elected to Parliament 1620 

Created Baron of Baltimore 1624 

James I., King of England, died 1625 

Charles I. ascended the throne of England 1625 

Territory of Crescentia granted to Lord Baltimore 1630 

Clayborne licensed to trade on Kent Island 1631 

Charter of Maryland granted June 20, 1632 



302 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

Lord Baltimore died April 15, 1632 

Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore 1632 

Lord Baltimore's Colonists sail for Maryland November 22, 1633 

Colonists in the Ark and the Dove arrive at Barbadoes . . .January 5, 1633 

Come in Sight of Point Comfort, Virginia February 24, 1633 

Land at St. Clement's Island, Maryland March 25, 1634 

Colonists take Possession of Augusta Carolina March 27, 1634 

First Legislature of Maryland met February 26, 1634 

Clayborne dislodged from Kent Island 1637 

Ingle attacks the Fort of St. Mary's February 13, 1644 

Leonard Calvert, First Governor of Maryland, died June 9, 1647 

Charles I. executed January 30, 1648 

Indian Treaty on the Banks of the Severn 1652 

Governor Fendall arrives at St. Mary's February 26, 1657 

End of the Puritan Government 1660 

Cecilius, Lord Baltimore died .___ November 30, 1675 

Charles, Lord Baltimore 1675 

Council of Deputies appointed in Maryland 1684 

King Charles II. died February 6, 1684 

Convention of Protestants at St. Mary's August 23, 1689 

Royal Government commences in Maryland 1692 

Mail Route opened in Maryland 1695 

Kent Isle made Part of Talbot County 1696 

State -house at Annapolis finished 1697 

State-house at Annapolis burnt 1704 

King William III. died 1702 

Charter of Annapolis 1708 

Charles, Lord Baltimore died February 24, 1714 

Queen Anne died August 1, 1714 

End of the Royal Government in Maryland 1715 

First Newspaper 1727 

Baltimore-Town erected 1729 

Lord Fairfax erects a Boundary Stone October 17, 1746 

Charles Carroll, of Carroll ton, born September 20, 1737 

Second Regular Newspaper in Maryland 1745 

Julian Calendar discontinued January 1, 1752 

Gregorian Calendar adopted January 1, 1752 

General Braddock marches through Maryland 1755 

Charles, Lord Baltimore died 1751 

Frederick, Lord Baltimore died 1771 

Provincial Convention of Maryland 1774 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 308 

Tea-ship Peggy Steward destroyed 1774 

First Constitution of Maryland 1776 

Congress in Baltimore , 1776 

British Fleet in the Chesapeake 1781 

Congress at Annapolis 1783 

Constitution of the United States ratified 1788 

Fort McHenry built 1794 

British Fleet blockades the Chesapeake 1813 

Battle of Bladensburg August 24, 1814 

Battle of North Point September 12, 1814 

Bombardment of Fort McHenry September 13, 1814 

Foundation of Washington's Monument 1815 

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal projected 1824 

Lafayette visits Baltimore 1824 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad projected 1827 

Death of Major Ringgold May 8, 1846 

Sesqui-Centennial of Baltimore 1880 

First Oriole Celebration 1881 

Legislature 1882 

Boundary between Maryland and Virginia marked 1882 

Prince Frederick destroyed by Fire March 3, 1882 

Enoch Pratt Free Library 1882 

Baltimore lighted by Electricity 1883 

Centennial Commencement of Washington College 1883 

Great fire at Salisbury 188G 

Baltimore City extension 1888 

Great fire at Pocomoke City 1888 

First Arbor Day in Maryland . 1888 

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal destroyed 1889 

Australian Ballot Law passed 1890 



THE END. 






J-RGJl'27 



